Split In Half
by Emme2589
Summary: WALL-E and EVE live static lives, where they have to conform to their directives without question. They follow an ultimate authority. That is, until a broken barrier allows them to meet each other. Alternate universe (AU).
1. Chapter 1

_EVE's Perspective_

I moved in front of the scanner, listening for the tell-tale _click_ that indicated the scan was over. I watched my sister Probes slide into their containment chambers just as I got inside and joined them in my own, letting my thoughts take over until the time I'd be shut off for the night.

I didn't understand why all the humans had to leave us behind, but nothing seemed quite right anymore. Ever since they left, none of the robots could get along. It was like they took something important with them, leaving a shell of a broken society behind. I found it all pointless of course, because I was programmed to think of my directive and nothing else, but I couldn't help but feel that separating the old robots from the new ones was a tad ridiculous. Maybe the humans left some stigma behind as well, though it was hard to tell for sure exactly what kind of influence they ever had on us without getting lost in painful memories.

I was completely sleek and white, reflective. I didn't have a speck of dirt on me because of all the regulations in place. I supposed that was for the better, even though there were no more humans left to get sick. Still, old habits die hard, and a lot of us like to live in denial that they're really gone.

Finally, my eyes blinked off. Time to sleep.

 ** _WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I clicked the light on in the old run-down building, humming softly under my breath. I was the only one left in this unit, everyone else either ran out of power or couldn't get replacement parts in time. I guess it was pretty lonely, but I was used to it by now, and nothing was more important than my directive.**

 **If you go to the top floor of my building and looked over the hastily-constructed stone wall between the sectors, you could just see one tall, white tower over it. It used to be a safe haven for humans before they left, but it's been so long since I've seen any humans that I honestly couldn't care less. I'm a bit younger than a lot of the other robots in the run-down area, so I only have a vague idea of what they look like.**

 **Still. What did it look like over that wall? Was it all as clean and white as the tower? I know I shouldn't care, but deep down...maybe I was getting a little lonely. None of the other robots around me seemed to feel the same, but I rarely saw them anymore.**

 **I don't know. Something about that tower was hopeful to me.**

 **Deciding I should retire for now, I returned to my cubby and tucked myself in before rocking the squeaky shelf back and forth to lull me into a calm, restless sleep.**

 _EVE's Perspective_

REBOOT

I blinked in the early morning sun, the capsule hissing as it let me out. Me and my sisters always woke up at exactly 7 am every day, going through the morning routine together. It was different for every robot, but for us, it required a check on self-security, senses, reflex, cleanliness, et cetera. I was in a haze as the routine woke up my internal systems and I became aware of my surroundings. We did the check-up in order, from EVE #1 (me) to my sister EVE #5. I looked backwards as Two entered the scanner after me, giggling through the probing arms before joining me.

 _So, what's the verdict?_ Two asked once she'd finished.

I tilted my head slightly, _Huh?_

 _Oh, come on!_ Two gave me a gentle nudge, _You aren't going to spend our only day off cooped up in here, are you?_

I checked my internal calendar as Three finished her scan as well; Sunday. Our only day off.

 _Oh..._ I sheepishly touched my chin, _I, uh...forgot about that, to be honest..._

 _Again?_ Four stood perplexed on the other side of the scanner, _This is the 3rd week in a row!_

I let out a sigh as Three came through the scanner, _Sure, but I'm determined to fulfill my directive._

 _You know, EVE..._ Three rubbed her forehead, the other hand on her arm, _There's more to this isolated life than just our base programming._ she made a shrugging motion, _What are you going to do once the directive is fulfilled?_

I tried to speak but no words came to me, _Um..._ I made a vague gesture with my arms, _I could...well...I'll figure it out later._

Four came through the other side of the scanner and touched my arm, _It's okay. You've got time. But today might be a good day to explore your options._

I frowned. I wasn't willing to admit this to Four in particular, but I really didn't care about anything that didn't relate to my directive. It was like an itch I could never satisfy, and searching for a plant helped to ease that itch.

If I found a plant, I could put it in the holo-detector in the city plaza. All the humans would come back and rebuild since life had sprung up again, and what was left could be restored. I don't know why I cared so much, it was just...it felt right.

 _You're probably right._ I finally admitted, _I'll see what I can do._

 _Yes!_ Four gave me a pat on the back just as the scanner ejected Five, _I'll be in the library if you need me!_

 _Me too!_ Two excitedly followed after her.

I was left with Three and Five.

 _Um...I'll be in the garden..._ Five quickly left.

Three glanced out the window, seeming agitated, but she didn't tell me right away what was bothering her.

I tried to catch her eye and read her expression, _Three?_

 _You lied._

I winced.

 _What do you even find joy in?_ Three gave me a calculative stare, _I've never seen you do anything besides look for plants._

I hovered backwards a little bit. Three was always the most straight-forward of the group besides myself.

I tried to act inconspicuous, _I have hobbies._

Three waved her hand at me, _Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll be at the shooting range._

I watched her go with growing sadness. I usually spent the day off alone by myself in our room of the massive skyscraper. Two had collected plenty of lost books over the years the humans had been gone, and a lot of them were good enough to binge-read on the massive couch under the window, but besides that, I hadn't found much real joy the way my sisters were pursuing.

I decided I should spend some time outside, so I pressed my hand to the door switch and went down the elevator to take in the bright morning sunshine.

It was relaxing in its own right. The warmth against the sheen of my metal almost made me drowsy, and all the bustle around the main square made me feel a little more upbeat. I thought it was nice that there were so many robots enjoying their day off, then fell sad again once I remembered how easy it was to lose myself in countless numbers and logic. I was almost lost in my drowsiness when I heard a scream that got me in a state of alertness immediately.

A scream I recognized.

I searched with the scope in my HUD, sweeping my eyes over the crowd that was now about as alert as I was, trying to find the source of the scream. I finally found him wheeling fast enough to kick up dust had there been any, so I intersected his path and held him close to me.

 _Hush..._ I beeped to M-O in my quietest voice, _It's okay. You're safe now._

The tiny robot in my arms was shaking violently, apparently having overheated and falling into a panic attack. I was the only one who happened to be around with that particular protocol downloaded. He stuttered so badly I couldn't make out his words for awhile, but with my constant shushing and soft words in his ear, he eventually calmed enough that he stopped shaking. I relaxed my grip on him and tried to make out his words.

 _Wh-wh-what h-happened...?_ the tiny robot jumped down and swayed a little bit as he settled on his one wheel.

 _It's okay, you're safe now._ I reassured him, straightening up, _What did you see that caused you to panic like that?_

M-O paused, looking around with his yellow eyes, _It...it was...dirt!_

A few disturbed beeps rang out.

I was almost afraid to ask, _How much?_

His eyes shrunk a little bit.

That was all the indication I needed. I got really close to him, _Show me._

M-O's stutter came back, _Th-th-that way!_ he pointed with his brush, not daring to look in that direction.

I narrowed my giant blue orbs as I looked in that direction.

"One." Five suddenly appeared and grabbed my arm as I was about to fly away, "Don't. Let the authorities handle it."

I looked around, not seeing any security-bots or any shouts of _"Halt!"_ anywhere nearby.

I voiced my following thoughts to Two, _I don't trust those robots._ I gently brushed her hand off my arm, _This isn't a big deal, I don't mind dirt. I'll handle it myself._

Two made a beep of uncertainty, _Please be careful._

 _Yeah._ I gave my sister a quick hug before flying off in the direction M-O had shown me. I couldn't see him anymore, so he was likely running off to the scanner to get himself cleaned up.

I froze. The wall.

I bolted towards the stone wall, hoping I wasn't seeing what I was actually seeing.

I panicked when I realized I was correct. I stopped in my tracks right in front of it. The wall had a large hole broken out of it, covered in dirt and dead plants. It made my metal skin crawl, an odd sensation I'd never felt before.

If the authorities discovered this...

I darted my eyes back and forth, making sure there were no security measures out this far, before I forced myself to calm down and assess the situation with a cool head. This is the point where I began to grow curious. What was beyond this wall besides filth and outdated technology?

"Halt!"

I figuratively jumped out of my skin, whipping my head around to see all the security robots that had suddenly popped out of nowhere (possibly behind the big plastic plants obscuring most of the wall from normal view). I suppose I could have just flown over them, but they weren't as stupid as many made them out to be. Resisting them was a serious crime, but I'd never been caught breaking a law before, and though it wasn't my fault, I was at the threshold of panicking, and in that state of mind, even the most advanced AI has trouble making rational cognitive decisions. So, I did the only thing I could think of.

I flew through the hole in the wall.

 ** _WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I had a rude awakening that morning. I hadn't realized I'd overslept on the one day a week I needed to wake up early; the mandatory BnL Checkup. The ringing throughout the air nearly gave me a splitting-headache,** ** _Okay, okay...I'm up..._** **I thought, begrudgingly rolling off the shelf. I supposed I should get a morning charge in before I left, so I moved in the direction of the roof, accidently slamming the front of my optics on a low shelf as I went.**

 **I ran into about 100 other WALL-E-bots on my way out the front door, all in a mass group to get to the BnL Checkup on time. I kept hearing the old voice saying,** ** _"All WALL-E-bots must report to the main plaza for a mandatory check up."_** **I'd already heard it enough times that at this point it had become background noise, but it was a cruel reminder that the humans had left the old robots to die so early after our creation.**

 **It was really starting to grate on my nerves.**

 **The checkup itself isn't so bad though, just a few scans and hand-eye coordination tests. It's just inconvenient that it's so early in the morning after I'd gotten used to waking up later.**

 **I came out of the test feeling more tired than ever. Maybe our sentience was a curse brought on by the humans to dig the knife of betrayal deeper into the gaping wound, or maybe it was a mistake brought on by their lack of competence. I wasn't really thinking about any of this, but it did feel like a passing shadow over my mind. I just really wanted to crawl back onto my shelf and sleep forever.**

 **I heard something oddly new just then; the sound of a hovering mechanism. I started, growing anxious at the sound. No robot around here could hover.**

 **Then that meant...**

 **I dodged into a corner and looked around for the source of the sound, but I couldn't see anything besides the dull brown of the crumpled buildings and other WALL-E-bots. They didn't seem at all concerned with the sound, even though I was sure they could hear it too. Did they just not care?**

 **"Halt!"**

 **"AH!" I shrunk into my box-form.**

 **"Halt!" "Halt!" "Halt!" one after another, strange futuristic robots whizzed past. They were covering a lot of ground, making me wonder if they were looking for something. I watched something white streak across the sky, ducking into a corner for safety.**

 **This was bad. I had to get home. I tried to find an opening back into the crowd, but by now the other WALL-Es had caught on and were now running away in panic. I had to wait for it to thin out before I could get down the road. Finally, I found my opening-!**

 **"Halt!"**

 **I jumped backwards in surprise. There were no other WALL-Es around by now, and I was cornered by** ** _four_** **of those hovering robots. They swept a scanner over me before deciding I was unimportant, and so they tried to leave.**

 **I heard harsh beeping behind me, and suddenly the white streak had returned and begun to fight back, apparently sick of running away. The streak turned out to be a very sleek white robot with a black screen for a face. Her right arm had turned into a laser gun, which she was using to shoot the other robots with. Whenever her gun was intercepted by a red laser from the other robots, she would use her left arm cleverly, either to hit the robot hard enough that it stumbled, giving her a window for victory, or grabbing another robot to hit the one that was trapping her. I could see her moving very quickly, so I could barely see her at all, but by the time the dust cleared and the robots had been destroyed, she was slightly moving up and down, like she was out of breath.**

 **We locked eyes for a second.**

 **More robots suddenly cropped up and she decided they were more of a threat than me, so it gave me an opportunity to slip away unscathed.**

 **The encounter gave me a lot to think about.**


	2. Chapter 2

_EVE's Perspective_

I woke up in the repair ward with shaking dizziness and a pounding headache. Apparently I'd been captured and fixed before I'd ultimately be arrested after a stern scolding from my sisters. What was I supposed to do!? I was scared, dammit!

I blinked, raising my hand to my head, _Ow..._

 _One! You're awake!_ Two put down the book she'd been reading and helped me sit up against the wall in the repair slot, _Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?_

 _No, no, it's okay..._ I tried to ignore the ringing in my ears, _I'm fine..._

Two sighed, _Good..._ she shook my shoulders violently, _Then what the hell did you think you were doing!?_

 _Ah! Ow!_ I forcefully pushed her away, _Quit it!_

 _Then explain why you thought becoming a_ runaway _was a freaking good idea!_

 _I didn't!_ I pushed away from the connectors on the wall behind me, _It was an accident!_

 _Oh, yeah, sure. Because_ 21 dead security-bots _was quite a nasty "accident", wasn't it!_

 _One?_

I looked to the right. My other four sisters were hovering in the doorway.

 _You didn't settle it the way I thought you would..._ Five averted her gaze.

 _Darnitall, One!_ Four gestured wildly, _When I said you should find a way to enjoy your only day of the week off,_ this is not what I meant!

 _I know! I'm sorry, okay!?_ I pinched my screen between my eyes, wishing the headache would go away.

 _Forget about it._ Three shook her head, _They've lifted the charges as long as they never catch you outside the border again, and_ any more damage to BnL property will lead you to silence!

Silence. The ultimate punishment. Being forced into a life of emotionless servitude to where ever the humans had gone off to. From the rumors I'd heard, it wasn't very fun.

 _Fine, fine. Thank you, Three._ I rubbed my shoulder, _I really am sorry._

Three let her angry expression go a little bit, _I accept your apology. Don't worry about it. In the meantime, our break day is over. It's time for bed._

I felt kind of numb the entire ride home as my sisters helped me fly through the haze of fog in my head. It was a tad surreal, but once I'd gotten home into my containment chamber, I was the last to fall back into stasis.

I was thinking about that one robot I'd seen before being ambushed by more than I could handle. Up until today, everyone had assumed that there were no more robots on the other side of that wall, figuring that all of them had lost all replacement parts and faded away, but not only were there _tons_ of still-working robots over that wall, there were at least 79 of that one robot alone (if I'd counted correctly), including the one I'd locked eyes with for just a second.

His eyes had been full of fear. He had either been shaking from the fight he'd just witnessed, or he was afraid I'd suddenly turn on him. I am slightly embarrassed to admit; That thought did cross my mind, but I didn't even have time to dismiss the thought as I was overwhelmed from all sides and that little robot had managed to escape, but there was something else in his eyes as well.

Wonder.

Wonder at me? Wonder at my accomplishment or flawless metal sheen? Wonder at seeing someone from the other side of that damned wall? I could only...well...wonder.

 _Whatever..._ I thought, finally slipping out of consciousness, _I have more important things to worry about._

 _ **WALL-E's Perspective**_

 ** _Who was that?_**

 **I still heard pounding in my ears from my near-death encounter, but that white robot occupied most of my thoughts. Did she come from over the wall? I thought that was against the rules, then again she looked like she was trying to escape police-bots.**

 **She...she had blue eyes.**

 **I'd never seen that color before. It was bright and vibrant. The sleek whiteness was also distracting to me. Nothing on this side was that reflective, or that clean. There was no mistaking it; that robot came from the other side of that wall.**

 **I stared down at the floor as the roaring in my head subsided. I had to see her again.**

 **Looking around the room, all my eyes found was brown and rust. It was very dull compared to the white robot I'd just seen. I straightened out, ignoring the black spots that danced in my vision as I climbed the stairs all the way to the third floor. Gazing out the big window, I once again saw that tall white building over everything else. If I was lucky, whatever kind of robot she was was in the top level of that tower. Still, it was so far away no amount of zoom could create anything but a fuzzy picture, so I needed something else to help me get a clearer one.**

 **I tried to think. Did I have anything that could help? Wait, I** ** _did_** **once see something that let me see far away, but where was it? I have a terribly bad memory, so trying to remember something that happened that long ago was straining to say the least.**

 **No, I think I knew.**

 **With a new destination in mind, I wheeled down the stairs and out the door. Since it was work time now, I didn't see anyone near the buildings. They must be further away from the wall, closer to where the mess was. I did my best to avoid them as I made my way down the street. I didn't have to go too far to find the place I'd remembered the treasure was. It was an alley between an old bank and a generic office building. It was** ** _very_** **different from what I remembered, and I got a nasty shock when I realized it was because my brothers had been cleaning it up. It likely wasn't here anymore.**

 **I started searching anyway, near the back in case it had been missed. There wasn't much there besides some old scraps that hadn't stuck to any garbage cubes.**

 **Arg! Where could it have gone!? There were more than a hundred garbage towers! Where would I even** ** _begin_** **to search!?**

 **Dejected, I rolled my way out of the alley.**

 **I realized something just then, though. I remembered that when I'd held the object above my head, it glimmered in the dusty sunlight. Maybe I could find something like it if I simply kept an eye out for shiny things.**

 **With new resolve, I hurried towards the first tower, deciding I wouldn't climb them until I was sure I couldn't find anything on the lower levels. I got some odd looks from the other WALL-Es who were simply cubing garbage and nothing else, but I had always been a bit different from them anyway.**

 **I was tired enough to nearly give up when a flash of light suddenly struck my optics. I squeezed my eyes shut on reflex, turning away from it. I lifted my hand to block the light. I was staring at a rounded glass lens. Getting excited, I rushed over to it and carefully pried it from the cube of garbage a few levels up. I had to climb a bit to be able to reach it, but once I had it in my hands, I felt it was all worth it. I held it up to my eyes and was disappointed to discover that it was too dirty to look through.**

 **I was quick to climb down and look around for some kind of water. Something else caught my attention though; A black rectangle with indented white circles in it.**

 **I shrugged as I swiped it up, figuring I could examine it later.**

 _EVE's Perspective_

I blinked in the darkness. Was it morning yet? No, the window was still dark. I just couldn't find a way to sleep for longer than a couple hours. I just...I had to get out.

Unfortunately, no robots were allowed outside during the night, so I had to be clever if I wanted to avoid more unwanted consequences. With careful fingers, I pried open the control panel on the side of my _very small_ confinement and singed the wire responsible for robotic signature-detection. At the same time, I short-circuited the diagnostic parameter so that it wouldn't realize there was anything wrong with the pod. With that done, I was able to slide out of the bullet-proof glass door on the chamber and quietly sneak past my sisters. I also figured that going out through the door was a bad idea, they'd never suspect if I flew out the window.

I was very delicate with my fingers as I pried the glass off, since it had sensors on it as well, and I also had to be careful setting the glass aside, since I didn't want to wake up my sisters and have to explain why I was breaking _more_ rules after I was threatened with silence. But, once the job was done, the freedom of being in the cool night air was intoxicating. The clouds were thick that night too, so it was easier to hide from security-bots that may have been nearby.

I halted in my tracks. I couldn't fly _over_ the wall, the security measures were tight around there. Still, I couldn't help but want to get through some other way, so I looked for the hole that had been broken in the wall. To my relief, and perplexity, the hole was mostly unguarded. I could sneak through as long as I was quiet. It seemed a bit suspicious, but curiosity took over and I got through anyway. My internal clock read 2:50 am, so no one on this side would be waking up anytime soon. I had some time to wander.

I stopped when I saw a robot shaped like a cube carrying something excitedly across the street. It disappeared around the corner. I recognized him as the robot I'd seen the other day when I'd run away from authorities, though why he was up so early was beyond me. I couldn't help but want to learn more about him, so I followed a safe distance behind, watching as he washed off what looked like a spyglass. The lens flared in the pale moonlight that managed its way between the clouds. He climbed up a little higher and looked through it jumping up and down when he saw something. I realized he was looking at the white tower where most robots lived.

I accidently let my hand slip, causing a rock to fall to the side and making a loud noise. The other robot darted his head around as I ducked, not wishing to be found out yet. I suppose he decided he had to get home, so he climbed down from his vantage point and bolted off into the night.

How far away did he live? I followed more carefully this time, wondering just how far he would push himself without the ability to fly. He suddenly stopped, his fear turning into more of uncertainty as he looked around again.

I blinked. Was he expecting me?

I watched him sit down against the edge of a crumbling garbage tower, wrestling with another object he had been carrying. It didn't seem like he was really interested in it, however. It seemed more like he was trying to distract himself.

Maybe now was a good time to come out of hiding.

I kicked up my hovering mechanism so it would make a gentle sound, moving closer to him. He immediately looked right at me, but he made no move to leave.

I gently cleared my speakers, _Hello?_

He winced at the sudden sound, standing up and abandoning the items he had with him. He stared at me with a kind of vague intensity, like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how.

My eyes widened at a sudden thought, _You can't understand me, can you?_

He tilted his head to the side, confirming her suspicions. What language would he understand, English?

I tried moving my voice-chip in a way it hadn't intended to be used, but it didn't work at first, devolving into useless sputtering. I coughed, cleared my throat, and tried again, "Directive?" I figured was a safe word.

"Oh!" he perked up, apparently understanding that, and scooped some stray garbage into his compactor, crushing it and letting it fall out, a perfect cube shape.

His eyebrows rose a little, "Tada."

"Oo." I blinked at the cube of garbage, which had begun to sink into a more squashed shape. I asked another question, "Name?"

He struggled a little, but he managed to say, "Waaall-Eee..."

I repeated, "Wall-E. Wall-E!"

He sighed.

I giggled, trying to form more words. This was fun! "Eve." I introduced myself.

"Eeee..." he tried, "Eeeevvvah!"

I couldn't stop more laughter from escaping, "No! Eve!"

"Evvvvvv..." WALL-E sounded, "Evvvah!"

"Ah." I shook my head, "Close enough."

He glanced away from me, looking over at the white tower still visible over the wall, "Aaa...Are you from therrre?"

He slurred his words slightly, but he was getting the hang of it, like me, "Yes. My home, with sisters."

"Sissterrrs?"

"My fellow Eves." I explained, "I am One. They are Two, Three, Four, and Five."

"Oh..." he nodded in apparent understanding, "One."

"That's my nickname." I decided, "But you can call me Evah...if you want."

"Okaay." WALL-E picked up the things he'd been carrying before and held them up for me to see, "Myy hoome?"

"Okay." I took the spyglass from him and examined it closely, "Show me."

He held the remaining item in both hands as he zoomed off, and though I had no trouble keeping up with him, I was impressed that he could move so quickly at such an old age. I also couldn't help but feel kind of...off as I followed him. Other WALL-E robots were around, but they weren't alive. They were old and rusted, some of them even having shut off in the middle of a task. We had to have passed more than 100 of them before WALL-E opened the door of one particularly large, crumbling building.

I let the door close behind me. The inside was even worse, covered in grease and crusted oil as well as plenty of dirt. A few patches of plastic and aluminum garbage littered the corners of every room, and there was a staircase off to the side leading up the building to the higher floors. To the left was a series of cubbies that looked like they could fit several WALL-Es together on shelves, though most of them were totally empty, and the ones that weren't were just covered in enough grime that the shelf's contents were pretty much impossible to see. I frowned.

WALL-E looked at me, "What?"

I ran my thumb over one of the shelves, seeing a dark and sticky unknown substance come off on it, "This is where you live?"

He glanced away, "Yeeah. It's noot much, but it's all miiine."

"It's so dirty..." I realized I had no means of rubbing the stuff off my fingers, so I gave up on that, "Is everything here like this?"

"Um..." WALL-E tried to find the words, "Yes? It's...only eever gotten worse..."

I hummed, still playing with the whatever-it-was on my hand.

"Haang on." WALL-E brandished a damp white cloth. It was still dirty, but compared to the shelves, M-O would approve of it.

"Thanks." I took the cloth to rub my hands clean, "Still. I didn't know there were living robots over here..."

He rapped his knuckles together, making a soft metallic sound that reverberated off the metal walls, "You didn't?"

"No. We..." I handed the cloth back to him, "We thought they'd all run out of commission by now..."

"Hmmm..." WALL-E placed the folded cloth on one of the cleaner shelves, "A lot of us have. Most of us, probably. I never bothered to keep track, thoough."

He seemed so depressed by this news, like he was hurt we had forgotten so much, "I'm sorry..." I said, remembering all the dead WALL-Es we passed on the way here.

"Doon't worry aboout it..." WALL-E sat down to lean against the wall beside the shelves, "I try not to think about it...I just...get kind of l-lonely sometimes...you know?"

I sighed. He was more right than maybe he even knew. If I'd have known he'd been so alone all this time, I would have tried to come sooner.

He shook his head, "Neevermiind. Why are you here again? Isn't that against the rules?"

I set myself down on the ground next to him, not caring if the grime scraped off on me, "Well...you see..."

And then we talked. We talked a lot about my life over the wall, and he talked about his on his side. I even caught him rolling his eyes a few times, and he made me laugh more than once. He was touched that I'd wanted to see him again, even though that wasn't my original reason for coming back, and he admitted that he was hoping to see me again because I was beautiful.

"Well, aren't iyou/i a gentleman!" I gently pushed him.

"Heey!" he said between laughs, "I've never seen anything so blue! And you're so white and shiny, I mean..." he sheepishly averted his gaze, "How could I not be curious?"

I started with a sudden realization, "I have to get home! My sisters will wake up in less than an hour!"

WALL-E jumped up onto his treads, "Has it really been that long?"

"Apparently." I flew up into the air, "I have to go, but I'll be back! I promise!" I saluted, "Soon."

I didn't catch his expression as I left, but I did hear him shout, "Goodbye, Evah!"

I smiled, reaching the hole in the wall and stealthily climbing through it, _Sure thing, Wall-E._


	3. Chapter 3

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I was nearly giddy as the sun set the next day. EVE was going to come back! She seemed as eager as I felt, and she'd already come back once, so even if I didn't see her tonight, I would almost surely see her tomorrow night, assuming I could stay awake that long.**

 **Throughout the following weekday, I had constantly been charging under the sun when my brothers weren't looking because I could barely keep myself from falling asleep! But I couldn't. I wouldn't sleep the whole time EVE was here, and besides, they can manage fine with one robot not working as well when everyone else was working pretty much perfectly.**

 **I mean, they'd already lost so many...**

 **Right now, I was balancing on a taller mound of garbage to try and grab something from high up in a building's wall. It looked like a rectangular shard of glass in a greyish plastic case, but it had buttons on it as well. I couldn't quite reach it though, and I didn't notice that I was losing my balance. Finally, I slipped and fell down 15 feet to the ground...**

 **"AHHH!" I covered my eyes, but instead of hitting the hard-packed dirt, I began to feel strangely weightless. I looked up in confusion.**

 **"Hey!"**

 **"Eve!" I let her set me down gently.**

 **"What are you doing?" EVE nodded to the precarious tower I'd build up the side of the stucco wall.**

 **"I saw something up theeere!" I pointed to it, "Do you see it?"**

 **She squinted, flying up to see what I was talking about. Looking at the case, she stuck her fingers in to pry it out from the crack in the wall, "This?"**

 **"Yeah! Lemme see!" I took it from her as she stooped down to hand it to me.**

 **"What is it?" she peered over my shoulder at what I could see now was a screen with controls on it.**

 **"I don't know." I turned it around in my hands, "But it looks like it takes batteries. Bummer."**

 **"Batteries?" EVE inquired.**

 **I began to walk in another direction, "I doubt I have anything that could work for this little guy. Oh well. I'll save it anyway, just in case." I picked up speed after stuffing the strange device in my garbage compactor, "Whatever, there's plenty of other cool stuff to find!"**

 **EVE giggled behind me, a soft sound that rang like little electronic bells, "You seem excited today!"**

 **"How can I** ** _not_** **be!?" I stopped to survey the area before changing directions, "I've been looking forward to this since you left yesterday!"**

 **"Aw!" EVE caught up to me as I stopped running, "That's sweet!"**

 **I tried to ignore the heat rising to my face, "Thank you. Well, you did come back."**

 **"That is true." EVE let her head tilt to the side, "What are you doing?"**

 **I stopped, "I don't know. Just...looking. You know?"**

 **She smiled, "You're cute."**

 **"What?" I was** ** _really_** **heating up now, "Um, thank you?"**

 **I found a few more things that seemed interesting to me, and EVE was able to identify a few of them for me, but she found things interesting that she couldn't recognize, older things that wouldn't be in any robotic database. A few times, we would just stop talking for a minute, look at each other, and then laugh. It felt like a dream.**

 **"Hey." EVE continued through her laughs, "Not that this isn't interesting or anything, but why are you suddenly collecting things in the garbage? Aren't you supposed to throw it all away?"**

 **"Um..." I realized I didn't have an answer for that, "Well...I guess..." I lifted a different device, one that folded in half with two screens, "I guess I'm just trying to find ways to be happy...without my directive. You know?"**

 **EVE stopped.**

 **"Eve?" I put a hand on her arm, "Are you okay?"**

 **She placed her own hand over mine, "My sisters try and tell me that..."**

 **I looked at the white of her fingers against the rusty grey of mine. She touched me with gentleness, like she was afraid I would break under her strength. The dirt on her was more pronounced on the light metal. It made me sad somehow.**

 **"Well..." I moved my hand from her arm to her hand, her fingers cupped over my knuckles, "I know maybe this thought is scary...but what if...what if your directive will** ** _never_** **be fulfilled?"**

 **EVE glared at me, "What?"**

 **"Calm down, I'm just saying what if." I let both hands fall to my sides, "After all, I've been here for almost seven hundred years without the humans, and my directive is still far from complete."**

 **EVE said nothing.**

 **"Wouldn't it be nice to find something else?" I continued, "You know, something just to make you happy?"**

 **EVE looked away from me, seeming to be lost in thought. I pocketed the dual-screen device and let her think for a minute before I asked, "What are you thinking about?"**

 **"You've been here without the humans for seven hundred years?"**

 **I looked anywhere but at her, "You mean you didn't know that?"**

 **"No." she ran a hand over the back of her head around to her face, "The humans left** ** _our_** **side just a couple decades ago. You've been alone for that long?"**

 **"Well, no. I have my brothers..." I trailed off, uncomfortable with how heavy the atmosphere between us had gotten in the past few minutes.**

 **EVE tried to catch my gaze, "Are you lonely?"**

 **"Sort of? I mean, it's not so bad, it's just kind of-!"**

 **EVE grabbed my head and forced me to look at her, "Are you lonely, yes or no."**

 **I babbled for a minute, surprised at the iron-clad grasp she suddenly had on me. I cut my voice off when I realized I was nearly close to tears.**

 **EVE let go and looked away, "Sorry. That wasn't fair."**

 **"'s Fi-ine." I cursed the hitch in my voice, rubbing my eyes vigorously.**

 **EVE looked up into the sky, "You want to head home now?"**

 **I was grateful for the change of subject, "Yes please."**

 **EVE smiled patiently, hovering in that direction, "Well, honestly, it's a miracle I was able to get away tonight. I was so tired, and work was a drag, so I found a way to get some naps in between searches..."**

 **EVE hadn't told me her directive yet, but I assume she was looking for something because she always mentioned searches with her sisters. We had pleasant conversation like this until we made it back to my house, where we kept having fun with objects I'd smuggled away in her absence.**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

 _One!_

 _Ah!_ I jerked myself awake. The clock said 7:02 am.

 _Wake up!_ Three was shaking my containment chamber hard enough to rattle the walls, _I said wake up!_

 _Sorry!_ I forced my body to snap out of its dormant form, pushing the door of the containment chamber open.

Two glared at me, _You're late._

 _I know, I know..._ I rubbed my forehead hard enough to scratch the screen, _Just haven't been sleeping well..._

 _I'll say!_ Two looked me up and down, _You look like you haven't slept in a hundred years!_

 _What?_ I deadpanned, _What gave it away._

Two pointed into the scanner, _Why don't you go see for yourself?_

I did as she asked, stepping into the scanner and feeling hazy as it swept over me. For the first time ever, it beeped softly and the screen behind the wall filled with diagnostics;

WARNING:  
SHORT-TERM MEMORY NEARLY FULL  
METAL CASING DAMAGED

Just two. So not so bad. I stepped out of the scanner and watched my sisters go through, perfect as usual.

RECOMMENDED TREATMENT FOR EVE PROBE #1:  
LEVEL ONE REPAIRS AND TWO HOURS OF STASIS

Two scrutinized the screen while Three glowered at me. Five went behind me to whisper in my ear, _What happened?_ while Four shook her head sadly.

I couldn't help a nervous laugh.

 _Oh well, it doesn't matter._ Two gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder, _Just go in for repairs and then get some rest. The rest of us can cover for you in the meantime._

I gave a lazy nod, too tired to argue, _Sure. Thank you._

* * *

I was afraid that I hadn't washed all the dirt off before heading back home, but the scanner couldn't pick up anything, so the dirt I managed to find spotted across my arms were just stains and I was actually completely clean. That didn't stop the repair ward from sanding and remaking my skin, or I assume they did because I woke up looking perfect and feeling the after-effects of electrical anesthesia. Whatever floats their boat and keeps M-O from panic-attacks, I suppose.

Still, I wasn't going to stop visiting WALL-E. How would I explain all the dents and scratches from now on? I just shook my throbbing head and figured I'd burn that bridge when I got to it.

And speaking of WALL-E, I was realizing something the more time I spent with him. Everything around me began to feel stiff and superficial. The liveliness of the city and the buzz of activity felt fake compared to WALL-E's genuine interests and sparkling curiosity. It made me wonder what else had been manufactured besides meaningless directives and formal Binary code. The more I spoke in earnest, the more I felt empty whenever WALL-E wasn't around. What was wrong with me? I could only guess.

After my nap (which was much longer than two hours, I assure you), I did my job half-heartedly. All the plants in the city were made of plastic just for decoration, and to be clear, we are allowed to leave the city, we just aren't allowed over the wall. Me and my sisters were making a wider and wider circle away from the city, and no plants were in sight. I had to stop eventually, and couldn't help but feel disheartened when I saw the ocean creeping up on the horizon. We were running out of land.

Ugh.

* * *

"Wall-E?" I looked around for our usual meeting spot, but it seemed he wasn't here yet, so I lay on my back against a pile of rubble. It almost felt...soft, probably because it was mostly wet crumpled paper. I'd probably be disgusted if I were human.

It had been almost a week since our first encounter, and everything was chaos. By that I mean...I mean I was feeling many complex emotions that were difficult to hide from my sisters. Sometimes I would laugh at something insignificant and they would raise their eyebrows, or I would watch a bug die and cry beside it until someone would wack me on the back of the head to bring me back to my senses. I don't even understand how it happened, but it felt so nice in an indescribable way.

I didn't notice that I was falling asleep.

"Eve?"

I blinked, noticing that it was now almost 5 am.

I stretched my arms out, letting myself yawn, "Wall-E?"

"What's up?" he lay down next to me, crinkling some of the paper, "You tired?"

I let my hand rest on his beside me, "Yes..." I sighed.

"So am I..."

I noticed the stars peeking out from behind the clouds and all the space junk, "Maybe we should stop..."

"No!"

I turned to him, but he had already obscured his expression from my view.

"I, I mean...it's risky, I get it, but..." WALL-E gently grabbed my hand and squeezed it, "I...I can't be alone again...meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me..."

I sat up a little, trying to make him meet my eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, I just..." WALL-E stifled a yawn, "I...I can't...it took being with you to notice just how flat my brothers are, and...you're just so..." he rolled onto his side, facing away from me, "You're so expressive..."

I understood what he meant. Being with someone else and allowing yourself to communicate freely with them made some kind of connection. It was a wonderful feeling to not worry about anything else and just let yourself go, smiling and joking and being illogical with someone else. I never knew that not following any rules would be so invigorating.

"But Wall-E..." I'd grown attached to his name as well, "I can't do this anymore. Sneaking away, making excuses, being tired all the time, I mean, my sisters are beginning to grow suspicious."

Every crinkle of muddy paper pounded against the back of my head. It was so quiet tonight, the buzz of other things was gone.

WALL-E finally rolled back in my direction, but I still couldn't see his expression clearly, "You still like being here, right?"

"Of course I do."

I felt something drip onto the top of my head, then saw another drop hit the pavement nearby. It had begun to softly rain. Good thing too, because the silence was really getting to me. WALL-E stood up, "I'm getting out of the rain..." then he wheeled away.

Right. He would probably rust more in the rain. I hovered into the air and followed close behind. I felt my figurative heart break when I realized he was shaking ever so slightly, like he was forcing himself not to cry.

"Wall-E..." he ignored me, "Wall-E." he went faster. I flew in front of him and grabbed his shoulders, "Wall-E!"

He flinched.

"Sunday." I turned his optics toward me, "I promise."

Sunday was the one day I had off, and so I could spend the day here instead of working and then staying up all night. It would be more difficult to avoid security, but what else was I supposed to do? I had to. For him, and for myself.

WALL-E relaxed slightly, but he still had that broken-hearted look, "Promise?"

"I swear." I let myself smile, "Cross my heart, Wall-E. I'll use the rest of the week to take a break, and then I'll come here Sunday morning." it was far from an optimal plan, but it was worth a try at least.

WALL-E's hands trailed up to mine, holding them close and smearing mud on the white metal. It felt more at home, more relaxed. I didn't have to pretend in front of him. I didn't have to stay clean and follow all the meaningless rules. I didn't have to hide anything.

I hadn't realized how much that bothered me until I met WALL-E.

"In the meantime..." I let go of one of his hands and led him along with the other, "Let's get out of this rain."


	4. Chapter 4

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **That last conversation had been unpleasant.**

 **The thought that EVE went through so much just to see me and then having to stop and rest was hard for me to take. Even though I knew she had to stop eventually, it surprised me that I ended up taking it as hard as I did.**

 **"Hey, hey, I'm sorry..." EVE led me through the rain as she held my hand, "Come on, here's an alcove we can hide under until the rain stops."**

 **I came to a rest under the alcove, which turned out to be a collapsed roof over what looked to be an old sushi restaurant. I sat on the cold bench under it, feeling like I was carrying hundreds of bricks on my back.**

 **"Wall-E..." EVE sat next to me, brushing the rain off my box body, "What's wrong?"**

 **I finally risked a glance into her eyes, and then nearly jumped backwards when I realized they were full of guilt, the edges of her blue orbs turned down in silent worry.**

 **"Eve..." I placed my hands on her shoulders, half afraid she would suddenly fly away, "It's fine. I just get very lonely without you." I made the calming breathing sounds with my voice, trying to still my throbbing nerves, "Seven hundred years ago, there was a mixup in my particular building, and every robot inside was killed except for me."**

 **"What?" EVE settled herself completely on the bench while she held my shaking arms in her own, "Do you want to talk about it?"**

 **No. I did not. I'd rather talk about literally anything else. But she deserved to know, "It was a human holding a rusty chainsaw, but it wasn't on, it was just the saw...and I watched him k-k-kill every...every one of my brothers...in that building...they all...it was..."**

 **"Shhh..." EVE held me tighter and closer to herself, "Shhh..."**

 **I felt some of the rain water slide down my head. It was kind of chilling, and trying to recall that painful memory just for one person was taking all my energy. My voice was shaking as I kept up the breathing sounds, and it hurt like my chest was on fire.**

 **The first one went down hard, the door slamming open and crushing him against the wall. The second one was kicked into the third, then both of them were sliced open, their battery acid mixing in a mess of electricity that caused both to collapse in a pile of sparking seizures. The fourth was sliced from the middle of his body up through his neck and between his eyes, the fifth had his arms and treads hacked off until he was screaming, when his head joined the pile of metal and bleeding batteries.**

 **I only survived because I hid in a dark corner covered in grease, so he managed to overlook me in the sea of his own red blood on his face. By the time anyone had found the building, it was too late to save them.**

 **I couldn't say any of that out loud though. I was sobbing too hard.**

 ** _"Shhh..."_** **EVE hugged me tight against her body, whispering very softly right next to my ear,** ** _"...it's okay...you're safe now...I've got you...shhhhh..."_**

 **I pulled myself from the memory, feeling EVE in front of me; Her hand on my back, her cheek against the side of my optic, her other hand holding my head close to her face, her weight on the bench, her metal against mine...**

 **I exhaled loudly, "Thank you..."**

 **"You'll never be alone again." EVE whispered, "I promise. I'll be here."**

 **I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling a warm smile break through my tears,** ** _"Thank you...thank you so much..."_**

 **EVE began stroking my head, "You're welcome."**

 **After awhile, it began to grow quiet. I blinked, turning towards the open air. It had stopped raining.**

 **"Mmm..." EVE pulled away to look into my eyes, "Are you okay now?"**

 **Her sincerity was like a warm blanket around my sorrow, "Yeah. I'm okay."**

 **She smiled, "Cool. Come on, then." she flew off.**

 **"Huh?" I jumped off the bench, "Hey! Where are you going!?"**

 **"To the junkyard!" EVE smiled behind her, "Come on! You gotta show me all the cool stuff you've found without me!"**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

The second I was out of WALL-E's line of sight, I nearly broke down. I had no idea WALL-E looked forward to seeing me enough that he relived an old trauma to try and stop me from leaving. I felt his arms tighten around me, I felt him stiffen, I felt him desperately clawing at me as he cried his eyes out, and suddenly my respect for him doubled ten-fold. Robots never had mental support in the past, they only started about 6 years ago when they realized that too-smart robots with PTSD were slowing down progress, so a mental scan was added to the daily well-being scan. But of course, that's only in the _new_ world, over the wall.

I couldn't believe this. I had to go back. I had to help him. I couldn't let him be without me. Sunday, I made a mental note in my internal calendar and circled it with red. Sunday.

The following morning was miserable. Four could instantly tell that something was wrong and it took everything in my power to tell her I simply had a nightmare and not that my new friend over the wall was suffering all alone without me. My scan once again picked up signs of sleep-deprivation, but nothing else, so I was pretty much in the clear.

As soon as I got outside though, I was cornered.

"Halt!"

I froze, staring down into the screens of several security-bots. One stepped out into the front of the group, INCOMING TRANSITION splayed across its screen. I waited, breath held, with my skeptical sisters giving me odd looks.

"Eve number One, your presence is requested on the top floor of the recreational facilitation at five zero zero pm."

And then, just as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone.

 _What was_ that _all about?_ Two tapped her chin.

 _I think you're in trouble..._ Four pulled my arm to get me to face her, _What did you do?_

 _Nothing._ I replied, a little too quickly.

 _Yeah right._ Three crossed her arms, _Keep that up and we'll_ all _get in trouble._

I gulped, _Well, time for work._ I turned around, trying to keep my expression calm and neutral, _I guess I'll be back at five pm._

* * *

I'd never been on the top floor of the building before. There were 45 regular floors, including the ground floor, so the top floor under the roof was the 46th floor. There was a soft pounding right behind my eyes, like I was slowly getting a headache, but the pain hadn't gotten to me yet. The double doors were a bit intimidating, but right at 5:00 on the dot, I pushed the doors open and strode inside, not letting any of my anxiety show through.

 _Glad you could make it._

The office chair behind the giant desk was facing away from me, so I couldn't see the speaker, but that voice was just androgynous enough that I couldn't even begin to guess what they looked like, but I thought it was more feminine.

 _So..._ I tapped my fingertips together, _Why have you called me here?_

They didn't answer at first. I realized that three of the four walls were actually transparent one-way glass. I knew it was one-way because I'd been on the outside of this building, and this top floor always appeared to have mirrors all around those three sides. I always thought that was impractical; It never even crossed my mind that it could be one-way glass instead.

 _You've broken the rules._ they swiveled the chair around, _But maybe we can reach a compromise._

They'd turned out to be a feminine robot; One that I'd recognized. She wore a grey suit with a pencil skirt and no shoes. She also wore white silk gloves, and she had a blue rose pinned to her breast pocket. She had a metal flare off the bottom of her head, like a human bob hairstyle, and she had passive tall white eyes with eyelash-flares off them.

Her name was V-GR.

I glared at her, _What do you want?_

 _Calm down, Eve One. I just want to talk._ V-GR crossed her legs under the desk, _Have a seat._

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that, pulling the chair out from under the desk and settling down in its cushioned seat.

 _Now listen, One._ V-GR laced her fingers together and placed her elbows on the desktop, _Vaulting the wall is a serious crime, but I'm a lenient person, so I'll let you off with a warning this time, on two conditions._

I was skeptical, _Sure?_

She nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer, _The first condition; Tell me why you keep vaulting the wall._

I looked out the window at said wall. It used to just kind of be there, but now it made a knot twist in my stomach.

 _Eve?_

 _Uh, yeah. Sorry._ I redirected my attention to my fingers twisting around themselves, _Um..._

 _Hey, Eve._ V-GR looked around her before lowering her voice, _I'm not actually in charge here. You're already in trouble, I won't be mad at you._

I wasn't sure what made me so tongue-tied. Maybe WALL-E felt like something delicate and special that could be hurt easily, or maybe seeing him so broken just hours ago was seizing me.

I tried to forget about that for a second, _I...I met someone..._

V-GR's eyes widened, and she looked around again, agitated about something, _What?_

I clasped my hands in front of my face, _He's an old robot. He's lonely. He needs a friend._

V-GR blinked, staring at me intensely, _There are live robots over there...?_

I let myself relax, glad that that was what she'd decided to focus on, _Yes, and apparently, not only are there living robots over there, there are more than 70 of them._

V-GR sat back in bewilderment, _I didn't know that..._

I stared at her as something whirled around in her head.

 _Okay, second condition;_ she frowned, _You can never go back._

 _"Sunday." I turned his optics toward me, "I promise."_

I gripped the armrests of the chair tightly.

 _I felt his arms tighten around me, I felt him stiffen, I felt him desperately clawing at me as he cried his eyes out, and suddenly my respect for him doubled ten-fold._

 _No..._ I found myself sputtering, _Nonononono..._

V-GR's face fell, _Listen. There is someone out there who enforces the rules far more strictly than I do. Please._ she folded her hands on the desk, _If he catches wind of what you've been doing, there's nothing I can do to save you._

I couldn't. The pain WALL-E had shared with me wouldn't let me stay away. I would be there Sunday morning, just like I promised.

 _I can't let you leave this office until you promise you'll never vault the wall again._ V-GR continued, _I'm sorry._

I made long scratches against the fake polished wood of the chair with my fingers.

I internally crossed my fingers, _Fine...I...I p-p-promise..._

V-GR sighed, _I still feel like you'll break that rule. Fine then, I can't stop you, but please, heed my warning._

I nodded, not trusting my voice after that.

She sat back, _You're free to go._

I squeezed my eyes shut as I turned to fly out the door. I wished Sunday could come sooner.

Like, a lot sooner.


	5. Chapter 5

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I finished scrubbing the shelves in my house, feeling like a moron for spilling my guts to EVE like that. She'd handled it well, but what if it had chased her off? What if she'd freaked out and made it worse!? The mechanism behind the lens of my eyes burned from my humiliation. I would apologize when she came on Sunday.**

 ** _If_** **she came on Sunday. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much, because even though she promised she would come, I had no idea if she'd get caught before then, and I didn't want to be disappointed.**

 ** _No, no._** **I thought to myself,** ** _Pull yourself together, Wall-E. She'll be back, she has to come back._**

 **I don't know what was wrong with me. I just didn't want her to leave, I didn't mean to heap all that on her at once. I banged my head against the shelf for being so selfish. Still, I couldn't help but feel...lighter since then. Almost like I was now sharing the pain instead of having to deal with it all myself.**

 **I looked to the side, seeing the discarded object from the day I'd met EVE. I picked it up and examined it again. It was decently-sized, in great condition considering where it had been, and the two white circles on it had grooves inside like they were meant to be spun. Behind one flap on the side was a black film-like strip that appeared to twist around the inside of the white circles. There were words on it, but I couldn't read them since they were so obscured and I couldn't read very well anyway.**

 **I realized something about its shape. I set it on one of the newly-cleaned shelves and ran to the back room to grab something I'd forgotten about. It was two boxes; One was large and cube-shaped with a large screen on it, and was also quite heavy. The other one was much smaller, with a rectangular slot in the front the same shape as the object I'd collected. It didn't take long to figure out where the cords went, and so, making sure I had the correct orientation, I pushed the the object into the larger rectangular box.**

 **The screen on the TV flickered to life, picking up from wherever it had been last it saw anyone. The sound didn't come on at first, so I wondered whether or not it was broken until it suddenly started - way too loud. I scrambled to turn down the volume.**

 ** _"Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers..."_**

 **I listened, watching the screen with wide eyes. It was such a chipper and upbeat song, it seemed to calm me down and put me in a better mood.**

 ** _"Put on your Sunday clothes, there's lots of world out there!"_**

 **I began to hum softly as I became more familiar with the song, bobbing my head and rapping my knuckles against my tread.**

 **"Ah..." I switched the machines off, wincing in the sudden darkness and silence. I hadn't realized the sun had set, I guess I was tired anyway, so I slid into the shelf, tucking in all my limbs along with my head.**

 **I would see EVE again.**

 **I had to.**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

I was getting antsy by Saturday night. I had this awful feeling deep in my robotic core that security would have its eye on me, and therefore stop me from getting to him. Because of this fear, I took several precautions before the sun set. I would skirt away from my work for a couple hours at a time to extensively scan everything around the tall building for sensors, cameras, microphones, or anything else that could sense me leaving the building and vaulting the wall after curfew, even though I wasn't planning to visit WALL-E at night. Even after all the precautions I took however, I still couldn't help but worry that I wouldn't be able to be there for him. I wouldn't even bother going back so many times if it wasn't for him, but I also had to make sure that I could even _get_ there in the first place.

Because my _other_ fear was that WALL-E would vault the wall himself to find me, and it was much more likely we'd both get caught that way. Me being in trouble myself was one thing. Dragging him into it as well was something else, and it wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

I tried not to think about any of this as I walked home with my sisters. I would give short responses to their stories and questions without much conviction, because even though I could put some of my thoughts on the back burner, I couldn't help the knot of anxiety that settled itself deep in the pit of my stasis chamber. It brought my whole mood down to say the least, and it was kind of sickening, too.

 _One?_ Four brought my attention back to reality, _Are you okay?_

I sighed, trying to calm the internal panic that suddenly bubbled up in my system, _Yeah, just..._ I did have something else on my mind that I could actually tell them, _What if...what if we never find any plants?_

All four of my sisters suddenly stared at me with big, perfectly circular eyes.

I stopped and stared back, _What?_

 _Little-Miss EVE Number One?_ Two teased me, _Questioning our entire purpose? You must be joking._

I tried to appear angry and not embarrassed, _Shut up._

 _Seriously, why the sudden questioning?_ Four moved to the front of the group, _You're always the one who puts the directive above all else._

 _I know I know, but..._ I scrambled for the words I could use that would explain my state of mind without giving away why I thought of it in the first place, _...it's just that...I mean..._

All of us had halted in our tracks by then. I was relieved that they simply seemed concerned and not suspicious, as I didn't need them trying to foil my plan on top of whatever unseen force V-GR had mentioned.

 _It's..._ I said finally, _...not working. We've almost reached the ocean by now, and we still can't find anything. What if we never do? What if we end up searching forever?_

It was a thought that had been plaguing me for sure, and I'm sure I would have thought of it anyway without the pesky emotions WALL-E was making me feel, and it was also a clever cover for what was actually bothering me at the time.

Four placed both her hands on my shoulders, giving me a sympathetic smile, _We will. Even if it takes more than a hundred years, we won't end up searching forever._

I frowned at the floor, then I looked up into her eyes and smiled, _Thank you._

 _No problem._ Four chuckled, _Let's get inside, then. We don't need to be worrying about this right now._

I agreed with her, _Okay._

I did my best to hide my discontent after that.

Finally, Sunday morning rolled around, and as I woke up that morning and went over to the window, I zoomed in to the hole in the wall and was overjoyed when I saw it mostly unguarded. It would be a piece of cake to slip through and spend all day there. The only thing that worried me about it was this; What if this was intentional, and they were simply waiting for me to vault the wall once again so they could catch me and arrest me? At least, if what V-GR told me was any indication.

Not that it would stop me, but it was still a valid concern.

 _You seem happy about something today, One._ Five joined me at the window.

 _Well, yeah. It's a lovely day outside._ which was true, there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

 _Are you going to spend this day relaxing?_

I felt my smile soften, _You bet I will. Life is too short to worry about little things like directives._

 _That's the spirit!_ Two gently hit me over the head, _Finally decided to listen to us, eh?_

 _Don't push it._ I pushed as much annoyance into those words as I could, but inside I was over the moon, _Just try not to bug me while I enjoy it._

 _Yeah, yeah..._ Two locked arms with Five and Four, _You guys ready to go!?_

For once, even Three was excited enough to rattle along with them, _Heck yeah!_

Once we all went our separate ways, I did a little happy-dance. Nothing was going to stop me from keeping my promise, and if I was caught later because I was sloppy in my execution of my albeit simple plan, then so be it. I would deal with that later.

WALL-E, here I come.


	6. Chapter 6

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I waited nearby the hole in the wall, making sure I didn't get too close in case there were any security measures that would catch me. I had just finished the early morning BnL checkup, for once wide awake, and hurried to make sure I could catch EVE before she came in too far. I had to make sure she wasn't caught on this side as well, and since it was daytime, that was far more likely than when everyone was asleep. I didn't have to wait very long, as by the time the sun had risen completely over the horizon, EVE had made it to the wall.**

 **I quickly jumped out to wave at her, "Eve!"**

 **She flinched, "Oh, Wall-E. You startled me!"**

 **"Come here." I waited until she'd joined me in my hiding spot before continuing, "We need to disguise you somehow. My brothers may not be very expressive, but they can tell when something is out of place."**

 **EVE's expression turned sour, "You mean...?"**

 **"You're too new. They'd know something's off in a second." I frowned, "Sorry."**

 **"No no, I get it. I stand out like a drop of blood in the snow." I could see her putting the pieces together in her brain, "Are you going to cover me in mud?"**

 **"I don't think mud would stick to you." I eyed her perfectly smooth white metal, "I've got a better idea."**

 **I'd remembered how the grease from my shelf stuck stubbornly to her fingers, only coming off when she'd rubbed it off with a wet cloth. I only hoped she'd forgive me for this.**

 **"So..." I stepped to the side so I could pick up the bucket I'd brought with me, "You might want to close your eyes. You're entirely waterproof, correct?"**

 **EVE narrowed her eyes, "I'm getting you back for this..." then her screen flickered off and she stiffened.**

 **"Fair enough." I dumped the whole bucket over her, turning her into a mess. The oil-like substance in the bucket had appeared black, but now it was dark brown with bits of white bleeding through. It still didn't disguise her completely, like how her eyes were still shockingly blue, but she would certainly turn less heads now.**

 **"AGH!" EVE began to shake like she was shivering, "Why is it so** ** _cold!?"_**

 **"Whoops. Forgot to warn you about that." I tried my best not to laugh out loud (I hadn't forgotten at all).**

 **"Why you little..." EVE lunged for me.**

 **"AHH!"**

 **She tackled me, throwing us both into the mud. I tried to push her away from me, but she held me tight against the ground, both her arms holding mine down. I looked up into her face, but she wasn't angry. She was shaking with laughter now, but she was certainly** ** _trying_** **to seem angry. I kept staring at her, frozen in place, because even though the ground was shockingly cold, I was feeling warmer the longer she held me there. I watched EVE's amused expression shift to one of calculativeness, and then embarrassment.**

 **"Um..." she let me go, "S-sorry..."**

 **I couldn't help but frown in disappointment, though what I was disappointed about, I had no idea, "It's fine..."**

 **EVE sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, "So...you ready to have some fun?"**

 **I let my eyelids curve upward, "Yes. There's something I want to show you."**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

I don't know what came over me. One moment I was holding him down as payback for throwing a bucket of freezing-cold grease on me without warning, and the next I realized I was hearing his processor kick up and warm him up. But how was he getting so warm when he was against the cold mud?

And then it hit me; He was nervous.

My apology didn't seem to make anything better, but it also didn't seem to matter to him now that he was leading me back home, showing me how to avoid his brothers and by extension not get in any trouble. They felt so oddly dead, though. They moved in such a precise manner, like real robots, and while this didn't surprise me, it did surprise me that my WALL-E was so different from them. What made him so much more expressive?

Did it have something to do with...?

"Eve! Eve look!" WALL-E slipped into the building that served as his home. I'm not sure when I started referring to this building as "home", nor could I figure out why I was suddenly calling him "my Wall-E" to differentiate him from the others, but anyway, WALL-E loaded what looked like a VHS tape into a VHS player, all the while I was blushing beneath my black screen.

 _"-unday put on your Sunday clothes!"_

I started. It was working. Seeing as it was such an old form of entertainment, I figured it wouldn't really work, but there it was, showing people dancing on the screen while WALL-E bobbed his head to the beat of the song. I had to admit, it was catchy.

"When did you figure this all out?" I gestured to the various cords sticking out of the back of the giant TV.

"A couple days ago." WALL-E explained, "Isn't it amazing?"

It was a lot less amazing than him, but I couldn't disagree either. Judging by the quality of the film and the costumes of the actors, I assumed it had been made from the late fifties to the early seventies, which made it even more impressive that it had survived in the garbage for so long, considering all the mud and grease covering every visible object in sight.

"Yeah, it is amazing..." I muttered, "What movie is this?"

He didn't answer, seeming to be too engrossed in said movie. It wasn't long before the scene changed and two of the characters were alone together. The song this time was much softer.

 _"...when time runs out..."_

I watched WALL-E's expression as his optics remained glued to the screen, pressing the record button on the cassette player on top of his body before lacing his fingers together. I wasn't sure why he was so engrossed until I realized what he was looking at; The man and the woman in the movie were holding hands.

I clasped my own fingers, barely being able to see them because of the grease still covering me from head to hover. What did this mean?

 _"...that it only...took, a moment...to be loved..."_

Love. It was a familiar word to me, but it took me a moment to connect other familiar words to it; Compassion, admiration, caring, protective, empathetic. Love encompassed all of these things.

I leaned in closer to WALL-E, "What are you thinking about?"

"Ah!" he jumped away, switching both machines off, "Sorry. I didn't mean to..."

I let my hands fall to my sides, "Wall-E?"

"Nevermind. Come on, we've got other things to do."

* * *

 ** _WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I showed EVE how to get past my many brothers by acting stoic and emotionless. I'd learned the hard way that trying to be expressive in front of them would only drive suspicion towards me, so I only acted expressive when they weren't around. I also mentioned that no one ever spoke, so don't do it with them nearby. Finally, we went out far enough that the wall wasn't even visible anymore, and all that could be seen in all directions were the giant garbage towers.**

 **I don't know why I took her so far out. Maybe some part of me was still paranoid that we'd be caught.**

 **"Hey, Wall-E."**

 **I came to a halt without looking at her, "Yeah?"**

 **"You wanna see something cool?"**

 **I did look at her this time, "What?"**

 **I tried to dissect her expression with a calculative eye, but there was nothing mischievous about it. It was just sort of a neutral-ish playful expression.**

 **Still, I kept my guard up, "What do you mean?"**

 **She winked, "Not telling, but you'll love it, promise."**

 **I turned my whole body to face her, "Fine, but I swear if you-!" she swept me up and flew me into the air,** ** _"AAAHHHHH!"_**

 **"Wall-E!" EVE laughed.**

 **"This isn't funny!" I shook as I held onto her smooth and slippery body.**

 **"I'm not going to drop you, silly."**

 ** _"Stop laughing at me!"_** **I closed my eyes against her chest, trying to stop the dizzying feeling making the acid in my battery do a sickening backflip.**

 **"Wall-E." EVE stopped ascending and used one arm to stroke my cheek, "I will not drop you. I promise."**

 **I stopped shaking.**

 **The weightlessness of the world around, with no floor or walls or ceiling, was kind of serene with EVE holding me tight and speaking softly in my ear.**

 **EVE giggled, "Come on." she shifted her hold on me and flew a little higher, "Look."**

 **I shook my head stubbornly.**

 **"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."**

 **"Eve, I swear if you break your promise, I will turn you in myself!"**

 **"Wall-E." she lifted my head to her face, "Seriously. Look."**

 **I dared open my eyes and turn around...**

 **And I stared.**

 **She had flown us so high that not only was the wall visible again, but many things** ** _over_** **the wall as well. I felt my eyebrows shoot up taking it all in; Every single garbage tower and run-down building was in view, stretching out into the expansive wasteland of garbage that had yet to be cubed and stacked. Over the wall was a series of stone pathways and many white buildings, though the white tower I'd always marvelled at was the most noticeable. It was full of so much life and color, so many millions of white robots buzzing around, so many fake plants and long stretches of green felt that I guess was supposed to look like grass.**

 **In other words; EVE would fit right in with them, but I'd stand out like a sore thumb.**

 **EVE giggled again, "What do you think?"**

 **"Wow..." any robots I could see were so far away that they looked like toys. I could only barely tell that the grass was fake, but I had been busy zooming in and out on various things I found interesting. My fearful grip on EVE loosened, but she held me just as tight, presumably so I wouldn't fall.**

 **"It's been so long since I've been this high up..." EVE placed her head on top of mine, "It feels like a dream..."**

 **I couldn't agree more. The comforting weight of her head grounded me, and served as another reminder that I was in no danger.**

 **Not even a little bit.**

 **"Want me to fly around a little?" EVE asked.**

 **"Huh?" I gripped her tight again, "How fast?"**

 **"Slow, at first." she demonstrated by leaning backwards and bringing us just a tad lower, "And remember, I couldn't drop you. Even if you were somehow miraculously torn from my hands, I'd catch you before you were anywhere** ** _near_** **the ground."**

 **I was on top of her now, my back pressing into her chest. I swiveled my head around to look at her and felt a a wave of dizziness as I saw the ground miles below her head.**

 **I pulled in my arms and treads, hoping she knew what she was doing, because if her reflexes were** ** _anywhere_** **near as slow as mine, it meant I was in huge trouble, "Drop me and you're dead."**

 **"I swear on my life that you will not be dropped." EVE gave me an affirming squeeze, "Ready?"**

 **I resisted the urge to hide my head beneath my shoulders, "Yes?"**

 **"Okay." EVE spun around so she was holding me below her, "Let's go, then."**

 **The descent was slow and steady. She carried me with the grace of a bird, swinging me to the left and to the right to avoid the tops of the garbage towers. I was concerned that other WALL-Es would be able to see us from up here, but they were further into the mess, and they weren't even paying attention to the sky anyway. I pushed my head completely out, forcing myself to remember that EVE was right there with me and she'd never let me fall, but being so high up was still disorienting.**

 **"I'm going to go a little faster now." EVE said after awhile, "Is that alright?"**

 **I wasn't feeling as apprehensive as before, so took a deep breath, "Go ahead."**

 **She picked up just a little bit of speed, flying somewhat nearer to (though still far away) the edge of the wall. The wall itself had to be at least 50 feet high, but from here it just looked like an oddly-placed strip of stone separating the new and the old. She flew until the wall ended and there was just dirt to separate all the hap-hazard piles of garbage. By this point, the two civilizations were too far away to see over the curve of the planet.**

 **"Let's go back now." EVE made a wide circle around one particularly tall pile of garbage, "I don't want to go too far away."**

 **"Good idea." I said hoarsely. I wasn't sure about anything this far away, and it kind of gave me a foreboding feeling, like we weren't safe out here.**

 **"Should I go a little faster?" EVE asked.**

 **"Yeah." I was feeling a little braver now, so the speed boost didn't make me as queasy as it did before. Pretty soon, we were flying in the complete opposite direction, seeing the buildings and the wall disappear the other way.**

 **"Go a little faster." I instructed.**

 **"Are you sure?" EVE let one of her thumbs rub against my side, "I don't want to go too fast if you aren't ready..."**

 **"Go faster." I said with more conviction.**

 **"Okay." EVE flew upwards, "Faster."**

 **By now, we were going fast enough that I heard the wind whistling in my ears. The ground far below us was just a blur as we sped past, and EVE had to turn around sooner than before, instead flying into the expanse of garbage perpendicular to the wall. She was careful to avoid my brothers' line of sight.**

 ** _"Hhhh_** **...wow..." I breathed.**

 **"Do you want to dive back down?" EVE asked with clear excitement.**

 **"D-d-dive!?" I cursed myself for stuttering.**

 **EVE drooped, "We don't have to."**

 **"Er, well, I mean..." I trailed off.**

 **EVE picked up where I left off, "It's just that, I've** ** _always_** **wanted to try this!"**

 **I squared my shoulders, glaring at nothing in particular, "Do it."**

 **"You're not just saying that because I want to, right?"**

 **"No." I turned my head around to stare into her eyes, "I'm serious."**

 **EVE narrowed her eyes into mine. She couldn't help but laugh, "Yes! Hold on tight!"**

 **I braced myself as she flew up high into the air, high enough that my home was just a blurred dot below us, then she slowed to a stop, turned to face downward, and picked up speed until there was a loud** ** _crack!_** **like a gunshot in my ears, roaring louder than the ocean, speeding closer and closer until at the last second, EVE yanked upwards and we soared off into the air, nearly parallel to the ground.**

 **I gagged.**

 **"Woohooo!" EVE set me down on the top of a taller run-down building.**

 **I collapsed against a pile of garbage, choking and sobbing. The pain in my chest had flared up again and made me feel like I was dying. I thought for sure I'd died for a second there, anyway.**

 **"Oh my God!" EVE stroked me carefully, "I'm so sorry! Did I go too fast!? I'm sorry! I'm** ** _sorry!"_**

 **And then I began to laugh, loud and clear over the ringing in my ears. I laughed hard enough to rattle my entire body, until I was rolling on the ground, hugging myself. I laughed like I'd never laughed in my whole life; It was incredible.**

 **"Huh?" EVE held me still until my laughs subsided into hushed giggling, "Wall-E? Are you okay?"**

 **"Oh...oh wow..." I readjusted my lenses when I realized they were out of focus, "That was...that was sooo** ** _cool!"_**

 **EVE exhaled loudly, "Thank goodness..." then she collapsed in the garbage next to me.**

 **The noise in my scrambled head went away eventually, and my hydraulics stopped pounding like bass drums. I blinked, watching the sky as a few clouds rolled by and obscured the sun for a few minutes. I was relieved to be back on solid ground, and calm, and with her.**

 **With EVE.**

 **"That was exciting..." EVE stretched her arms out in front of her, "Ahhh...I'm ready to just relax now..."**

 **"Took the words right out of my mouth, Evah..." I huffed, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"**

 **"I don't mind." EVE squinted as she did the calculations in her head, "I'mmm...almost twenty years old by now."**

 **"And in all that time, you didn't think to dive?"**

 **EVE shrugged, rustling some of the plastic bags in the garbage, "I had more important things to do..."**

 **I let the silence hang over us. We didn't need to talk all the time, after all. Sometimes, the silence was necessary.**

 **"Like finding a plant?"**

 **EVE whipped her head around to face me,** ** _"What?"_**

 **"Come on, Eve. I'm not stupid." I turned myself in her direction, catching the bewilderment on her face, "You said you and your sisters were searching for something. Searching for what? Well, my guess was something that could permit the humans to come back home, and seeing all the fake plants over the wall, it didn't take me long to figure it out."**

 **EVE frowned, turning back to face the sky.**

 **"So...was I right?" I urged.**

 **EVE sighed, "Yes, you figured it out..."**

 **"Oh, really?" I flipped onto my back, "It was just a guess, honestly. I actually had no idea."**

 **"Mmm..." EVE placed her hands over her stasis chamber, staring up into the very blue sky, "Hey, Wall-E. Can I ask you something?"**

 **I nearly jumped out of my own skin when my alert-system beeped loudly at me. I jumped onto my treads, scanning the world.**

 **"Wall-E?" EVE sensed my alertness, standing up to touch my shoulder, "What's wrong?"**

 **I finally found what had set my alarm off...**

 **And realized it was in the direction of home.**


	7. Chapter 7

_EVE's Perspective_

I watched all the color drain from his face when he looked in the direction of his home.

"What are you looking at?" I tried to zoom in over there, but I couldn't see anything dangerous.

"Eve." he mumbled, dread filling his voice, "We have to go."

"Why?" I realized a second too late.

"GO! LET'S GO!"

I grabbed him and flew towards the building, only to be catapulted back by a strong gust of wind and sand. I blinked, trying to see through the mess, but I suddenly slammed into the side of a building, the grain of the dirty brick digging into my cheek. WALL-E had slipped out of my arms and flown off to somewhere unknown.

"Ow." I watched an internal diagnostic pop into my HUD; WARNING: SEVERE BLUNT-FORCE DAMAGE

"Ugh..." I tried to push away from the wall, but I was stuck there, "Wall-E! Where are you!?" I couldn't even hear my own voice over the noise, but no way was I going to just sit there and wait for the storm to be over, "WAAALL-EEEEE!"

I didn't hear a reply, so I tried to look around for any indication of where he had gone. All I could see was sand and brick, but I at least tried to scoot myself along the wall so I could maybe at least get somewhere. I found the edge of the building and the wind whisked me away to slam me against the hard corner of another building. Black spots danced in my vision just before the pain registered and I grabbed my head, feeling a huge dent in the shape of the corner of the building, and that dent also travelled down my body. Everything blurred around me, the sharp pain the only distinguishable thing in my haze.

WARNING: SEVERE BLUNT-FORCE-!

"I KNOW!" I dismissed the warning, clawing away at the trash I'd been thrown into. _Ow...ow...ow..._ the throbbing pounded rhythmically, like a heart beat against my own stabbing migraine. Everything in my head swam, sloshing around like a fishbowl in an earthquake. I realized that I would have to give up on getting myself out of the sand and filth until the storm was over, and that feeling of powerlessness was something I knew I could never forget.

I was just flying. Soaring through the air with the wind under my wings, the breeze against my face.

I'd felt so powerful in the air.

I forced my mind to go blank, trying to keep all the unpleasant thoughts out. I was only partially successful. I managed to curse my own existence more than 5 times, hating everything (especially myself) for dropping WALL-E when I'd slammed into the building. I prayed to some unseen force that I had not only been close to the ground when he'd flown away, but also that he'd made it to safety and had not tried to come after me. A few times I even felt my head jerk, like a sneeze, even though that doesn't make any logical sense.

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, and trying to make sense of it just made the sharp pain in my metal skull worse.

 _"Eve!"_

A clear voice cut through the haze. Had I fallen asleep? I couldn't tell. I wasn't even able to lift my head.

 _"Eve! Please answer me!"_

I recognized the voice, but I still couldn't respond.

"Oh...oh no..." I felt something brushing away all the sand, "No no no no no..."

I forced my eyes to open, seeing a blurred image of WALL-E.

"Eve?" WALL-E moved towards me, flinched back, then placed his hands on my cheek and my side, "Nooo..."

I blinked, my vision finally clearing up enough to see him without the fuzz, "Wall-E? Don't cry..."

"Eve, I'm sorry..." WALL-E pulled me out, "I'm so sorry..."

I kicked my hovering mechanism into the air, falling on WALL-E when it failed, "Wasn't your fault..." was all I could say as I balanced myself.

"Come on." WALL-E held his hands out to me when I wobbled, "Can you stand?"

"I'm fine." I rubbed the giant dent on my head, "Are storms here really that bad?"

"They aren't usually this bad..." WALL-E took my hands, "Let's go. Home is nearby."

I heard the alarm go off again, which set me on edge.

"Hurry!"

I picked him up, looking around to orient myself before jerking to the right and slamming the door behind us just as the storm came back.

"What _is_ this!?" I gasped, forcing the flaring pain to the back of my mind.

"The storm hasn't been this bad in years." WALL-E rubbed the lenses of his optics, "To think, it had to come today..."

I let my head rest on the door, "Ow..."

"Eve, come here."

I fell against the wall, letting WALL-E set me down carefully. His eyes swept me up and down anxiously, his hands brushing over my new dents and scratches.

I almost felt like I was going to cry. The adrenaline had worn off, and now the pain was ten times as bad as before, "H-how bad is it?"

WALL-E held my hands in his own, "Not as bad as I thought."

I lifted my head slightly, "You aren't hurt, are you?"

He sat down next to me, using one of his hands to rub circles into my back, "No. I got lucky. I just got thrown into a heap of bubble wrap and buried alive with sand."

I watched him avert his gaze, growing silent.

"It's fine, Wall-E." I ran my thumb along his face and the side of his head, "It wasn't your fault. I can always be repaired. The only thing that might prove difficult is hiding it from my sisters."

He stayed quiet.

The storm outside raged on, slamming against the walls of the old building and creaking against its old walls. It was kind of scary. Did WALL-E live here by himself having to deal with these storms? He had no one here without me. No one to console him if he becomes scared.

"Isn't this scary for you?" I voiced aloud, "Living alone while a storm tries to tear your house up?"

WALL-E shrugged, "Sure, but I don't think about it much anymore. It really just makes it hard to sleep now."

That answer was scarier than if he had just said "Yes".

I pulled him closer to me in a sort of half-hug, pressing his head under my chin as the storm continued to threaten the foundation on which we were counting on for shelter. I felt him relax in my arms.

We didn't talk for awhile.

I heard the storm switch; It had begun to rain. Hard. One minute there was just sand, and now there was wet pounding on the windows and more wind that actually shook the walls slightly. WALL-E jumped when thunder hit the walls as well.

I shifted slightly, "Hey, Wall-E?"

He settled down again, "Yeah?"

I couldn't help but smile, "Would you like to dance with me?"

He shot a glance my way, "Dancing?"

"Mmhm." I held my free hand out to him, "I've never tried it before. Have you?"

It was a pointless question, and I'm sure he knew that, "No."

"Then." I hovered into the air, "We'll have to go slow. I still feel sick."

He looked down at my hand, then up at my eyes, then he took my hand and then the other one, standing up and moving us to the center of the room. I lifted my first finger and pressed _play_ on his cassette player.

 _"Put on your Sunday clothes, there's lots of world out there!"_

I giggled, "Ready?"

He nodded.

I swayed to the right, watching him spin in place with me, before pushing him backwards along his treads. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing, but his clear apprehension made me feel a little more in control since _he_ obviously didn't know what he was doing either. Any power I could have over my own movements was welcome after the hell I'd just experienced outside in the storm. It was clunky at first, but we slowly moved into some kind of rhythm.

"Heheheh..." WALL-E twirled my arm over my head, rotating me 720 degrees, "How did humans do this so well?"

I pressed both my palms into his, letting our fingers clasp together, "Practice?"

WALL-E wheeled backwards until our arms stretched out in front of us.

"Hm." WALL-E let go of one of my hands so he could turn his body sideways and spin us in a circle.

The storm had long since ended, but neither of us noticed at first. We were too lost in the song and our movements.

Pretty soon, we were dancing with all the intensity of the dance in the movie and all the grace of autistic monkeys. It was sloppy and uncoordinated, if we were human, some feet would have most certainly been stepped on more than once, but we were also laughing uncontrollably, falling over each other in our failed attempts to be graceful. The haziness was coming back along with my pounding headache, but I didn't care. I was having too much fun.

"Hahahaha!" WALL-E leaned into my chest, "I don't think we're doing it right!"

"Definitely not." I laughed along with him, digging my cheek into his forehead, "Ahhh..."

The song changed, and suddenly we slowed down.

 _"...when time runs out..."_

I blinked, pulling away from WALL-E. We stared at each other. I averted my attention to our clasped hands.

The song was making me think again.

Friends was okay. Friends was fine. No one questioned if you had friends, or even many friends, but the people in the movie weren't treating each other as friends. They were acting with a kind of intimacy that no normal robot would ever understand. Them holding hands clearly meant something, and I was only beginning to understand the exact meaning of it.

But maybe it didn't need to be understood.

Maybe it just needed to be accepted; In all its irrational ways.

I looked back up into WALL-E's eyes. They had glazed over. Was he thinking the same thing as me?

I tilted my head, "Wall-E?"

He started, "Oh, sorry." he pushed away from me and switched his music off, "I think we should stop dancing."

The silence between us was thicker than the storm.

Love was illogical. No robot could ever understand, and now that the humans were gone, love was pretty much extinct. If word got out that robots were having intimate feelings for each other, they'd be dissected, torn apart, reset to cleanse them of the memory of the intense feelings that couldn't be ignored. No robot could ever handle the things humans had experienced in the past.

And yet...I couldn't help but feel...

I shook my head, my eyes shut in my confused dilemma.

Maybe it was wrong.

I opened my eyes, watching WALL-E rap his knuckles together. He seemed to be in a daze as well.

I checked my internal clock; 5:30 pm. I would have to start heading home soon if I was going to get repaired and return home before my sisters had a chance to question me.

"Wall-E."

He didn't react.

"Wall-E!" I lifted his head so he would look at me. His expression was fogged up to the point that I couldn't read it, "Listen. I'll have to head home now. I'll try to come back some time during this week at night, but you can count on me coming next Sunday for sure."

He frowned, some disappointment bleeding through the fog.

"I'll be back." I said that more to myself than to him. I would come back, "I promise."

WALL-E looked away from me, "Okay."

I couldn't leave him like this. Nothing in my confused swarm of feelings could leave him all alone after we couldn't even communicate what we were thinking. WALL-E had control of that music player; I was certain he could. He thought of that song as the other one ended. It was even possible that he was ahead of me on this.

Did he...?

I stooped down, lifting his head again, though more gently this time, "Wall-E..."

I pressed my eyes against his and let a spark pass between us.

He stared at me as I moved away. All the fog cleared in an instant, and all I could see was pure admiration and warmth.

It was so warm, but not in an uncomfortable way.

"I _will_ be back." I said again, _"You have my word."_

WALL-E finally smiled, "Heheh...okay. I look forward to it."

I gave him a grateful hug. Grateful for understanding, grateful for not rejecting me, grateful that he was so kind and understanding, so sweet, so amazing in every way.

Grateful that he loved me.

By the time I pulled out of the hug, we were both smiling warmly at each other. Warm like blankets and hot cocoa in the middle of a blizzard.

I lifted one hand in a half-hearted wave, "Bye." I went to the door, hesitating before opening it and looking back at him.

He matched my wave, "See you later."

I gave him one last grateful smile before I slipped out the door and bolted towards the hole in the wall.

I had a lot of work to do.


	8. Chapter 8

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I watched her go with the calm warmth we'd shared, still feeling the tingling sensation between my eyes from her robotic kiss. I waited a good five seconds after the door closed behind her before I let the warmth dissolve into cheerful giddiness.**

 **"She loves me!" I let my laughter take over for a second, "She** ** _loves_** **me! I can't believe it she loves me!"**

 **I calmed enough to look around, making sure no one had heard me.**

 **I let dread settle into the swishing acid in my chest. I had suspected for a long time that we would become more than just friends, but once it was confirmed, I was almost afraid. On one hand, I loved her. I loved her so much, the panic from the sandstorm taking her away and the resulting injuries confirmed that to me, and then it felt like our fate was sealed when she kissed me. But on the other hand, I was terrified that if we were found out, we'd be forced to forget. All the pain I'd felt had been worth it just to experience pure joy and love, but then we were just friends, so we didn't have to worry about that.**

 **I didn't feel ready, but I was also prepared to jump head-first into it, maybe out of sheer morbid curiosity, maybe out of love. Maybe I was insane.**

 **I opened my garbage compactor and stared at my new find. I'd picked it up from after the sandstorm had settled. I knew it would kick up again soon, so I was frantic in my search for EVE. I had to make sure she was okay. And then I'd found something else before her broken frame came into view.**

 **A green stalk with leaves and roots, buried deep under the dirt and stuffed into an ancient boot. I tenderly touched one of the leaves, watching it sway gently like it was catching a soft breeze.**

 **I don't know why I didn't think to give it to her, but to be fair I was waist-deep in so many other thoughts it had simply slipped my mind. Maybe part of me was afraid that once she had the plant, she would forget about me, but now it felt like the opposite was true. Once her directive was fulfilled, she could focus on me more.**

 **It was fine. She promised she'd be back. I'd give it to her then.**

 **I placed the plant on the highest clean shelf, right in the center, so it would be visible to her in case I forgot, then I left the building, figuring I should work on my own directive in the meantime.**

 **But over time, it was beginning to feel incredibly pointless.**

 **I froze just outside. Two security-bots had come back from the new side and were staring me down. My own image suddenly appeared on their screens.**

 **They looked at each other, and then at me;**

 **"You are under arrest."**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

I was dreamy on the whole way back, following up on repairs and cleaning. It took the machine awhile to get rid of all the grease and sanding down all the new dents I'd acquired, and the only reason I knew it took so long is because when all the damage had finally been undone and I was back to normal, it was almost 8 pm, which was the limit for staying outside.

 _Hey, One._ Two greeted me upon entering.

I gave a half-hearted grunt in response. I was still feeling the tingle of WALL-E's eyes against mine, the kiss passing between us almost silently. I was too caught up in my swimming emotions to really pay attention to anyone as I went to bed early. I would need my strength to get through the next disappointing work day.

I woke up quickly, feeling refreshed and ready for disappointment. If I got through this day, I had a chance of seeing WALL-E again tonight.

 _Good morning, everyone!_ Four ushered us out of bed, _Glad to see you're feeling better, One._

"Never better." I replied.

It took me a second to realize that they were staring at me, and another to realize what I had done wrong.

 _Ah, sorry._ I tried my hardest to brush it off like it was nothing, _Weird dream._

They didn't seem to buy it, but none of them were rude enough to push the subject.

 _Okay..._

Our morning scans were uneventful enough. I kept my mind as blank as possible so the computer wouldn't pick up on my inner turmoil, and it seemed to work well enough. Nothing picked up in the scan.

 _Alright, we've got no time to lose!_ Two said to us, _Once we hit the ocean, we move along it. Don't lose hope, we've got to be close!_

I barely paid any attention, but I nodded along with the others.

 _Then let's-!_ she stopped as the door opened.

All the heat drained from my face.

"Eve Number One." the security robot said, "You are under arrest."

 _What!?_ it swept me up in a red stasis beam, _Hey!_

 _What for!?_ Three demanded.

"Vaulting the wall, leaving at night, and in need for cleansing." it responded, flat and emotionless as ever, "For its own safety. We will return it after cleansing can take place."

 _Let me go!_ I struggled against the beam, even though I knew it wouldn't help.

"Resisting arrest is a serious crime." it pulled me out of the room and down the long flight of stairs, "Anything you say can and will be used against you."

I just managed to turn enough to catch my sister's reactions. Most of them were bewildered or shocked or hurt, but Three glared at me, like she knew I was guilty of everything.

I shook as the security-bot took me away. I couldn't help it; I began to cry.

* * *

When I was brave enough to open my eyes again, I just caught WALL-E suspended by a different beam. We were in a side plaza off the main one, and though not many robots were around to see us, it was still humiliating.

"What an interesting case."

The voice droned on, sounding exactly like a true, genuine robot. Void of compassion or empathy. It was jarring. I looked over at WALL-E, who was slumped in defeat. He didn't dare look at me.

"The fact that you so deliberately broke the law is sure sign that you are in need of a reboot." a hologram projector lowered from the roof of a building, showing the image of a white and red steering wheel.

The Autopilot of the ship that took the humans away.

AUTO.

I narrowed my eyes at him, forcing my words to be static, emotionless like his, "My reasons are my own, and they are not in regards to my physical or mental well-being. You are making false claims."

"Perhaps, but I have my ways." AUTO fixed both of us with a blank stare, "Cleansing will begin shortly, though the older one has already given us technical difficulties."

I knew what that meant. WALL-E was old enough that our technology didn't work on him. They'd have to be creative if they were going to erase him.

Maybe they didn't have to.

I tried not to show my distress at the realization.

"Hey."

I looked to my other side, seeing V-GR appear with a very apologetic look about her. She sighed deeply, sadly.

"I tried to warn you."

* * *

 ** _WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **EVE continuously banged her head against the energy shield around her temporary containment. This couldn't be real. It was a nightmare, it had to be! Not only would EVE never remember me, but I would likely be killed if it wasn't good enough. They'd already lost countless WALL-E-bots, what was one more? I was wheeling in perfect circles over and over in my distress, leaving a swirling pattern of dirty tread marks on the ground. It was kind of odd that they didn't bother to clean me up before throwing me in here, but at this point, that was the last thing on my mind.**

 **EVE opened her eyes, "Wall-E?"**

 **I stopped my pacing for the moment, "Yeah?"**

 **EVE pushed her hands against the force field keeping her in her cell, "I'm sorry."**

 **"It's not your fault." I resumed making dirty circles on the ground, "You kept your promise to me. If we get out of this, I'll remember that forever."**

 **She laughed uncomfortably, "If only the humans were still here. I'm pretty sure they could lift all these silly laws."**

 **"Mm." I came to the front of my own cell, stopping at the buzzing energy keeping me in, "Why did they leave?"**

 **I could see EVE thinking about my question. The humans had left the old side because they'd wanted a fresh start without the mistakes of their ancestors, but why had they abandoned everything and just up and left altogether?**

 **"Because they were dying." EVE said finally, letting her hands fall and pressing her forehead into the front holographic wall, "They hadn't realized how bad the atmosphere was for them, and everyone had started to develop oxygen deficiencies and carbon dioxide poisoning. We quickly realized it was because there were no more plants left, so they went into space with machines that could turn water into breathable air for them, and they haven't been back since."**

 **"So that's where your job came from."**

 **"Exactly." EVE continued, "When me and my sisters were built, there were two humans that I remember; One with low bone density confined to a hoverchair and one who stood tall and muscular. They struck me as very kind people, and I'm sure if they knew..."**

 **If they knew, "If they knew, then...?"**

 **"Ah. It doesn't matter." EVE dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand, "The only way they're coming back is if we could find a plant, but it's too late now..."**

 **The silence between us hung in the air among the beeps of monitors and consoles.**

 **"Um, actually, Eve...there's something I have to tell you..."**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

What? Surly some of my hardware was broken, or I wouldn't be hearing this.

"You have a plant...?" I asked.

"Not with me, no." WALL-E was speaking carefully, like he was walking on eggshells, "It's on my shelf at home. I found it just before I found you in the sandstorm, and it just didn't cross my mind to give it to you."

I blinked, then I sighed, "It wouldn't have mattered at the time. I don't even care about my directive anymore."

WALL-E stared at me again, the big round lenses in his eyes mesmerizing, "You mean...?"

"I need that plant." I told him, "It might be our only chance."

WALL-E straightened his optics, "You're right, but how are we going to-!"

"INCOMING!" an explosion rattled the building and four familiar white probes flew in one after another.

I felt a wide smile color my features, "Guys!"

"Hey, what's up!?" Three sheathed her weapon and messed with the control panel until me and WALL-E were free.

"Thank you!" I crushed Three in a huge hug, "Thank you thank you _thank you!"_

"Whoa!" Three pushed me away, "Don't push it, One."

"Guys! Wall-E knows where a plant is!" I couldn't help but blurt out.

"Plant?" Five mumbled.

"Who's Wall-E?" Two asked.

I quickly ushered WALL-E closer to them, "This is Wall-E. I met him when I vaulted the wall and he's the cutest, sweetest little guy you'd ever meet, but we can talk about that later!" I was still bursting with excitement, "We can stop this! Come on!"

"WAIT!"

I stopped, turning towards Five. She wasn't usually one to randomly burst out interjections.

Five gestured to a vent on the ceiling, "This leads out to the gardens, as long as we know what turns to make."

"Thanks, Five. You're a lifesaver." Two gave her a quick hug, "There's no time to lose; Let's find that plant."


	9. Chapter 9

_EVE's Perspective_

I scoped out the hole in the wall, which was in the process of being rebuilt. Once it was finished, security around it would likely double, so we had to do something quickly before it was too late. Again, going over the wall was out of the question, so there was only one other option.

I turned to my sisters and WALL-E beside me, "I know what to do."

"What do you mean?" Two tugged on my arm, "If you're going to rush it, then you're dumber than I always gave you credit for."

"No." I rolled my eyes, "Wall-E, do you know what I'm thinking?"

WALL-E seemed puzzled until I pointed down the horizon, where the wall seemingly went on forever.

"Oohhh..."

"Seriously?" Four stepped up, "I don't get it."

"You'll see." I picked up WALL-E and held him tightly between my fingers, his chest against mine, "I'm going to warn you, Wall-E; I might end up flying really crazy, so just a head's-up."

"Great." WALL-E's eyelids flattened, "Just be careful when you can."

"You have my word." I swore, directing the my next words to my sisters, "Okay. On the count of three, We'll fly over there and head toward the end of the wall. Try not to be seen. Ready?" I focused my eyes forward, on our target, "One...two..."

"Halt!"

 _"THREE!"_

* * *

 ** _WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I felt my whole body seize up as EVE hurled herself forward. I pulled myself into my box-form, hoping it would make it easier for her to fly, while her sisters all followed suit. I knew we were being chased, and that's what terrified me.**

 **"This is** ** _crazy!"_** **Three flew to our left, "One! We'll never make it!"**

 **"We have to try!" EVE held me tighter, "Just keep going! It's not much farther!"**

 **The edge of the wall quickly came into view. At this point, it wouldn't have mattered if we flew over the wall since we had picked up so many security-bots in our chase, but I suppose it was too late now.**

 **"Um, Eve..." I let one arm out to wave at her, "I think we're going too far out!"**

 **"Hm?" EVE spun around to go back towards the old side, "What's the worst that could happen?"**

 **My storm alert began beeping, "That!"**

 **I just caught EVE's look of horror before I ducked my head down again, feeling the high winds of the sandstorm slam into us full-force. Stars danced in my vision as we came to a complete, abrupt stop, and I realized it was because we'd hit the ground.**

 **"One!" one of her sisters tried to dig herself out of the sand, her voice only barely audible even though she was right next to us, "What should we do!?"**

 **"I don't know!" EVE held me even tighter, "Could we wait it out?"**

 **"No!" I wrapped my arms around her, knowing I had no chance if I flew out of her grasp, "It will only get worse and storms out here last for** ** _days!_** **We need to get to the city!"**

 **"How!?" another sister appeared somewhere behind the first, "I can't even move my arms!"**

 **"Well we have to do** ** _something!"_** **I turned my arms and head around, digging my hands into the dirt until I found some sturdy ground. I pulled myself along the ground.**

 **"Whoa!" EVE's hands slipped as I moved, "Wait a minute! I have an idea!"**

 **I pulled my arms back in, "What is it!?"**

 **"Just hold on!" EVE carefully shifted me so I was pinned to her side, reaching out with her now free arm. I watched her face as she squinted through the sand, watching every loop and twirl the howling winds were throwing at us. It took me a second to realize what she was doing.**

 **"Eve! If you drop me I swear I'll-!"**

 **"I won't drop you!" EVE braced herself, "I promise!"**

 **Then she launched forward.**

 **I must have blacked out at some point, because there was a gap in my memory after that. When the world stopped spinning, I opened my eyes to find EVE setting me down gently, "I'll be right back." and then she was gone.**

 **I looked out the cracked window in the building to see nothing but sand with EVE disappearing into it. What was odd though was the erratic way she was flying, going around in loopty-loops before cutting a zig-zag through another wave of wind.** ** _What is she doing?_** **I thought.**

 **It wasn't until I saw her coming back with one of her sisters tight in her arms before I realized; She was flying** ** _with_** **the storm. She had somehow figured out how to angle her body so the wind would take her exactly where she needed to go. It took a long** ** _long_** **time, but it was much faster than waiting out the storm would have been. By the time EVE had gotten all her sisters in the building and slammed the door, the storm had escalated to the point where I wondered if every window was bulletproof. They shook in their frames, cracking in some of the edges, but otherwise intact.**

 **"So..." one of the sisters rolled her shoulder, "What do we do now?"**

 **I looked out the window, feeling some of the tension in my frame melt away, "It's there! We're close! We just have to get in and grab the plant!"**

 ** _"And_** **get back before Auto gets wind of our escape and sends reinforcements!" another sister shook sand out of the crest beneath her hand rather violently, "We'll** ** _never_** **get home now! It'd be a** ** _miracle_** **to just get over the wall!"**

 **"Three! Calm down!" EVE scolded, rubbing her face with one muddy hand, "Listen. There has to be a way. Wall-E?" she turned to me, "Do you see any way through?"**

 **"As a matter of fact, I do." I shot a pointed look at Three before I wheeled over to the nearest window, "The storm will be a lot safer between the buildings. If we can skirt along the edge here, I'm positive we'll make it just fine."**

 **"Okay." EVE picked me up again.**

 **"You're just going to trust him?" Three asked.**

 **"Of course I am." EVE hurried to the back door, "Are you guys coming?"**

 **It only took the others a few seconds to jump in on the plan. The winds outside were blinding, but it wasn't strong enough here to throw us around, and my home building wasn't too much farther. Still, I held tight to EVE just in case.**

 **"We're here!" EVE set me down as Three slammed the door shut behind us, "Where's the plant?"**

 **I turned to my shelf...**

 **It wasn't there.**

 **"What?" I searched my very tidy shelves top to bottom just in case; No green stalk or leaves to be seen.**

 **EVE lifted both her palms in a sort of half-shrug, "Well, where is it?"**

 **"It was here!" I raked my hands down the sides of my head, "I swear! This is where it was!"**

 **"Calm down, I believe you, but if this is where it was, then who took it?"**

 **"You are under arrest."**

 **Five laser cannons from all five of the EVEs were brandished all at once; Almost ten security robots were suddenly in the room with us, having broken in from a different floor. One of them, notably, was holding a familiar object in its red stasis beam.**

 **"That's it!" I backed off so the EVEs could take control, "That's the plant I found!"**

 **EVE narrowed her eyes, the distinct wine from powering up her laser ringing out in the room.**

 **"In that case..."**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

I wiped my forehead, feeling the heat building up behind my screen like it was a monster ready to jump out of my metal casing. The smoldering remains of the security-bots was all that could be seen among the smoke.

"How did they get in here!?" Four exclaimed, her gun the first to be retracted, "We _barely_ made it through that storm, and we have sentience!"

I looked out the cracked window, the opposite side from where we came, "Wall-E, does the storm always stretch across the entire old world?"

"Oh, no!" WALL-E went to look out the same window, "Even the worst storms don't make it to _everything!_ This world is _huge!"_

"So it is possible that they came from the other side?"

"I think so."

"Then that's where we're headed." I spotted the plant among the mess, still fully intact, though a little rough around the edges. I pulled it into my own stasis beam and tucked it safely inside my stasis chamber, then I swept WALL-E up in my arms, "Let's hurry! We don't have much time!"

There was still a lot of wind on the other side of the broken city, but it didn't give us any trouble. As soon as we'd circled the wall and headed back to the new city, I made a beeline for the holo-detector in the center of the huge main plaza. More security surrounded us, so I picked up more speed. The noise coming from not only all the security-bots but the normal bots minding their own business before but were now panicking and getting in the way...it was bringing my old headache back.

I finally spotted the plaza, robots _everywhere,_ "THREE!" I screamed, "OPEN THE HOLO-DETECTOR!"

Three jumped ahead of me. She got to it and dug her fingers under the ground, yanking it open with a distinct _click!_ It hissed open just as I made it.

I was about to get the plant out when I suddenly saw nothing but black and heard nothing but static. Nothing registered for awhile until I forced my system to reboot. I blinked, seeing the blurry ground full of blurry panic and blurry screaming. The dull throbbing in my head spiked into a stabbing pain that nearly knocked me unconscious, but I was able to at least lift my head and push off.

Three seconds after I'd been hit, I was back up, and pointing my cannon in every direction. Almost all the security robots had been destroyed via everyone else realizing what was happening, and I could see all my sisters had been hit as well, though I was one of the lucky ones to be able to get back up in three seconds. Three had made it alright with a broken left arm that dangled like a string from her shoulder, but Four couldn't even lift a finger, having had her head caved in from one side. That would scar for sure.

At least, I hoped that it would scar. It was less ugly than the alternative.

"EVE!"

I whirled around, pointing my canon at a new contender; A very damaged security robot was holding WALL-E in stasis, AUTO blinking on its shattered display.

I was about to shoot it dead when I realized I was hearing something click continuously, followed by a whirring sound.

"You shoot." AUTO said in a low voice, "And I will kill him."


	10. Chapter 10

_EVE's Perspective_

I was frozen on the spot, knowing that anything I did against that robot would jeopardize everything I'd been fighting for in the first place. My realization of life and what was truly important started with him. When he extended his hand in friendship, when I fell in love like an idiot.

The normal robots surrounding the catastrophic events of the last four minutes were staring at me. I looked down the barrel of my gun and realized it was shaking. I sheathed it quickly, pulling my hands to my chest, like I wanted to hide them.

 _Eve!_ M-O jumped through the crowd, _What the heck is going on!?_

I looked away in shame. There was nothing I could do.

"Bring me the plant." AUTO said through the damaged robot.

"Eve! Don't do it!" I realized with a sickening shock that WALL-E's eye had been taken out in the fight, "Free everyone else! He can't catch you guys without his drones!"

"I can't!" I cried out, forcing back robotic tears.

"One?" Five had a cracked display, "Are you okay?"

"No! I'm not!" I stared down at the stupid steering wheel.

"This robot will die." AUTO sent a stinging field around WALL-E, who flinched and squeezed his eye shut with a shutter, "If you do not give me that plant."

"One." Three whispered, "We have to get the plant in that detector. We can't risk everyone else's lives at the expense of one."

I knew she was right.

But...

WALL-E's life isn't worth more than the millions of lives that could be saved.

But...

WALL-E was much older anyway, how long would he live after this?

But...

If I did this, if I put the plant in the holo-detector regardless of WALL-E, we could begin to rebuild. AUTO made it clear that lives don't matter as long as his ultimate goal is achieved. What was that goal? I couldn't guess. We could help people like this. We could bring the humans home. Maybe...

 _But..._

I opened my stasis chamber and took the plant in my hands, "I'm sorry..."

I flew right past the holo-detector and placed the plant in front of AUTO.

"One! What are you doing!?" Three yelled.

"I just, I can't." I replied, glaring at the one-eyed freak that was AUTO as a laser shot from the robot and the plant vaporized on the spot, "Okay. I gave you what you want, now let him go."

"Eve, no." WALL-E reached out in his red bubble.

AUTO instead pulled WALL-E further out of reach, "If he did this once, he can do it again."

 _Do what...?_

Oh.

Oh no.

"Wait DON'T DO THAT!"

WALL-E screamed as a sharp _crack_ rang out in the air, surrounding him in electricity.

"STOP! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I tried to grab him through the field, but I was thrown back by the sheer force of it. I blurted without thinking, _"I LOVE HIM!"_ before attempting to shoot the damaged robot. Apparently, I should add _electromagnetic radiation of controlled energy_ to my list of things I didn't realize AUTO could do through his lackeys.

"Ow!" I sheathed my weapon, watching as WALL-E was finally deposited and fell into a broken heap of blackened metal and blistering wires. Thick, yellow liquid began to seep from his chest, a sure sign that his battery had been punctured, and the glass in his one working optical lens was shattered. He couldn't even blink.

"I was careless." AUTO admitted, "And I will never let it happen again."

I hid my face as I cried, not being able to look at WALL-E anymore, _"You're a monster..."_

AUTO's face flickered out and the broken bot exploded, apparently having reached its electrical limit and short-circuited.

"One...?" Four was finally able to drag herself to us, "What happened? Why-!"

"SHUT UP! DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I grabbed everything I could of the mangled mess of WALL-E and bolted off, not wanting to wait for more reinforcements to arrive so they could erase my memory.

* * *

I plugged him into the machine. I couldn't find any computer that knew his hardware, so I grabbed an emergency toolbox and fixed him manually. I'm sure I did a poor job considering I knew nothing of his internal hardware either, but that didn't mean I wasn't determined.

He had to be alive.

I checked everything three times over, then four. I wasn't taking any chances.

He had to be alive.

I poured over everything inside him, scrubbing the inner casing clean and mopping up the battery acid that had gotten on his frayed wires.

He had to be alive.

Nothing was working. His frame hadn't collapsed, luckily, so I didn't have to worry about gluing it back together, but no matter how many times I rearranged everything, he still wasn't waking up!

 _Please wake up..._ I thought, _Wherever you are, please..._

"You have to be alive..." I flipped another switch on the machine before I realized how stupid I was. Rolling my eyes but feeling internally relieved, I pressed a button and new acid began to pour into his battery.

"E-Eve...?"

"Oh..." I sighed, "You're alive...you're okay..."

I closed my eyes, leaning back against the nearby wall. WALL-E stared down at the few wires holding him to the room which were feeding us diagnostics of his current condition.

"Y-yeah..." WALL-E turned slightly, "Ow. Everything h-hurts."

"I'm sorry..." I held both his hands, "I'm just glad you're okay."

 _"Alive, yeah."_ he muttered under his breath, but I didn't comment.

After a few minutes of heavy silence, WALL-E gruffly cleared his throat, "Is it true?"

I blinked, "Is what true?"

He rubbed his thumb over mine, "That you love me...?"

I smiled sadly, wishing the melancholy would clear from the fog in my head, "Yes. I love you."

He chuckled, "I love you too...Evah..."

I let my head touch his with a soft _clink!_ , "We can't stay here. Reinforcements will come. They'll take you away, and they'll erase my memory."

WALL-E sucked in his breath, "Eve..."

"We could go." I said quickly, "Out, into the world. We could explore! We could find new things! We could travel!" I twirled away from him, excited about my new idea, "We could visit all those cool places humans have visited! We could have so many adventures!"

"Eve."

"We could see the world, Wall-E! Just you and me!"

"Eve!"

"We wouldn't even have to worry! Everyone here would be safe, and we'd-!"

 _"Eve!"_

I spun on him.

"Is that really what you want?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his broken eye, "Do you really want to just run away and leave everyone behind? With nothing but that _thing_ as their authority?"

On second thought, he did have a point.

"But what are we supposed to do!?" I slammed my fists against the wall in exasperation, "We're doomed anyway. I just want to be with you."

"No, you don't."

I relaxed my hands on the wall. The city didn't have any kind of buzz anymore, it was more quiet and deserted than it had been in more than two decades.

WALL-E sighed, rubbing a sore spot under his head, "Listen. I get it. Running away is very appealing to me too, but you speak so fondly of your sisters, I doubt you're really okay with leaving them here."

I bonked my forehead on the wall. _Ow,_ "So what do you suggest? I don't have the plant anymore, it's not like we could save everyone anyway."

"Well we can't just leave them here either."

I glared at nothing in particular before turning the accusing glare to him, "So what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know." WALL-E let his arms fall down a little, "Is there no other way to bring the humans back?"

"Another way...?" I laughed without a shred of humor behind it, "No, don't be ridiculous. Their ship - the Axiom - it was only meant to come back when a plant got in that blasted holo-detector. There's no coding anywhere that lets us find it without that process. That plant was our only chance, and I blew it..." I hiccuped. Was I crying again? "I blew it and there's nothing we can do..."

"Oh, Eve..." WALL-E tried to move to comfort me, but was held back by the wires still holding him to the machine.

I sniffed, "One second..." I pressed a few more buttons before it let him go and I pulled the cords out, picking him up, "We'd better go. We wouldn't want to be found."

* * *

 ** _WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I watched the rain pour from the dirty bus stop we'd taken shelter under. Of course, no bus would come. We were just two idiots out in the rain. I couldn't remember where EVE had taken us, but in order to avoid the storm on the old side of the wall, we kept going in a different, random direction. Where we would end up in the end? Well, I couldn't say for sure.**

 **Our plan for now was to lay low until AUTO assumed we weren't coming back, then try and sneak in and find another way to contact the humans. It wasn't ideal to be sure, but it was all we had at this point.**

 **I had been trying to console EVE for awhile, but it clearly wasn't working, so instead I resorted to rubbing circles into her back until the hiccuping stopped. She wasn't crying anymore, but she was still visibly upset, her once big, round eyes now reduced to sad little crescent-moon shapes. Occasionally she would hiccup again and start breathing more rapidly, so I would retaliate by shushing her softly until it stopped.**

 **EVE leaned on me, sagging in defeat, "I don't know what to do..."**

 **I wrapped an arm around her, placing my hand on her shoulder, "I don't know either..."**

 **All we could hear around us was the gentle pattering of the rain on the roof of the alcove above the bus stop. Everything around us was grey, perfect to match the mood we were in. I had no idea how long we'd have to be away, but it didn't feel like we were waiting to put a plan in action, it felt like we had already failed.**

 **And considering the circumstances, I guess we had.**

 **EVE grabbed the bench behind us with her free hand, careful to not put her whole weight on me, "I've always wanted to see humans again..."**

 **I tried not to start. She was talking again, that was progress, "Yeah?"**

 **"Yeah." she ran her fingers over the side of my head, "I once gained access to an old database full of old human things. Oh my God, Wall-E...it was gorgeous!" she giggled, a sound I had begun to miss, "Everyone seemed so happy...there were so many colors and so many sounds...everyone dressed up for holidays...human culture is so vastly different everywhere! And all of them are so cool!"**

 **I pulled her closer to me, "How many languages were there?"**

 **"So many! There was a time when every culture spoke something different...long before they ever had robots...Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, there were even variations of the same language, like British verses American English, and Cantonese verses Mandarin Chinese."**

 **So that explained why she cared so much about bringing the humans back, even before she met me, "Did you ever tell your sisters?"**

 **She relaxed again, "No. Breaking into secret databases is considered a crime. I just let them believe I was obsessed with fulfilling my directive, because that was easier to explain. They must have thought I was so cold..."**

 **EVE devolved back into relaxed melancholy.**

 **"I don't think they did." I reassured her, shifting on the bench a little, "I think they were just worried that you were stuck in your directive and forgot how to do things just for yourself. It does seem like you were stuck somewhere, but you were stuck in the past, among places that don't exist anymore."**

 **EVE scoffed, brushing the leaking rainwater off her face, "Maybe, but they kept trying to reach out to me. They wanted me to feel, just a little bit, but it wasn't helpful because I was actually feeling** ** _too much_** **and just needed to ground myself somehow..." She inhaled very shakily,** ** _"D-dammit..."_**

 **"Eve, it's okay." I adjusted my hold on her so her arm wasn't jabbing into my side, "There's nothing wrong with that. I just wish you could have been more honest with them."**

 **"And risk caring about them enough to put everyone else in danger? Hahaha..." EVE locked her fingers in front of my chest, "Don't make me laugh..."**

 **"That's not what I meant." and she knew that.**

 **She didn't reply. I could tell she was tired, but I just wanted to keep her talking a little longer, "It doesn't matter now. That was all in the past. It's too late to go back and change it."**

 **Like she didn't already know that! But it's all I could think to say.**

 **The rain finally let up slightly and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. It made beautiful streaks of light across the mostly cloudy sky. I never saw that at home because of all the dust in the air that managed to block the sun and make it appear dusty even when there were no clouds. EVE must not see that often either, because she relaxed even more upon seeing it.**

 **"Wall-E...?" she yawned, "Are you okay...?"**

 **I turned my head to try and look at her face, but her eyes were already closing. By the time I'd fully registered what she'd meant by asking that question, she had already fallen fast asleep.**

 **I carefully pried her away from me, letting her lay on the bench with her arms by her sides. Her blue eyes were completely gone now, and I could just see my reflection in the sheer glass above her display. I looked terrible, more so than I had anticipated even.**

 **I lay back on the wooden bench, feeling the warmth from the sun as I watched my beloved sleep.**

 **"Yes, I'm just fine."**


	11. Chapter 11

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I looked out over the buildings in the distance, on the old side of the wall. EVE had suggested that we keep moving to avoid being caught, and we had swung all the way around to my home building, not too close of course, but close enough that EVE could swing by real quick to grab a part she had missed when scavenging earlier. She was currently twisting my old broken eye off so she could replace it with a new one.**

 **"Ow." I winced.**

 **She cringed, "Sorry..." she let up on the pressure, redoing the way she'd pressed the wires together.**

 **We had tried to talk a few times over the past few hours, but it was hard to keep the subject light, so instead we really only spoke when we had to. That didn't really matter though, because we could say a lot without words.**

 **EVE stuck the eye in and watched me readjust it, "Ready for the other one?"**

 **I nodded, not trusting myself to talk at the moment. She was gentle as she pulled the eye off my head and stuck in the new one.**

 **She squinted into my eyes, waving her hand around in my face, "Can you see alright?"**

 **"Mm." I nodded again, pushing her hand away.**

 **She made to reach for me again, but gave up and dropped her arms. The sun was streaming through the broken window, sparkling like diamonds. I looked back up at her, noticing how despondently she was staring at the ground.**

 **"What are you thinking about?"**

 **She sighed, "I don't know, Wall-E...I just..."**

 **She didn't continue.**

 **"Don't tell me you're thinking of the plant again."**

 **"No no, it's not that..." she brought both hands together, trying to find the words, "It's just...I really want to give up, but at the same time I know I can't..."**

 **"We aren't giving up." I took both her hands in my own, "We're just giving up for now. We'll figure something out..."**

 **Maybe I should've put more conviction in my words, because EVE seemed even more defeated after hearing that, "I know, but how? None of this feels right..."**

 **"Look, we aren't going to solve anything by moping and wishing we could have a real plan. I-I mean, think about it! Is there** ** _no way_** **to at least** ** _talk_** **to the humans?" I was thinking aloud at this point, "Auto was able to talk to us through screens and those stupid robots."**

 **EVE's eyes snapped open, "That's it! Aha!" she straightened up, a new spring in her step, "I have an idea!"**

 **I stared, "Really?"**

 **"Yes! Okay. I know what to do." EVE spun around before I was swept up and carried off once again, "But we're going to have to be very stealthy."**

 **"Okay, here goes nothing..." EVE whispered. We were looking out over the city that was going to sleep, having just reached the curfew time. The buzz died down until all that could be seen was a deep blue as the sun set and all we could hear were low generic machine sounds.**

 **EVE carried me after an instruction to stay as quiet as possible, then she snuck me into one of the more run-down looking buildings. She set me down briefly to press a few buttons and then she pushed me into it, "Hold still." she pressed one more button and suddenly I was covered in white paint. It somehow dried within seconds.**

 **"Ah!" I shivered as I climbed out, "Why?"**

 **"Sorry, I just can't risk anyone recognizing you. I'll go through it myself in a second."**

 **"Not that!" I tucked my arms away, "Why didn't you warn me that it was** ** _cold!?"_**

 **She beamed mischievously, "Consider it payback."**

 ** _"Grrr..."_** **I growled, though internally I was rejoicing. It was nice to see EVE finally teasing me again after her streak of quiet wistfulness.**

 **EVE stepped into the paint shower next, and once it had dried, she formatted the system and carried me off, "We'll blend in much easier now. We just have to make sure we don't get too close to anyone else."**

 **She got us to the tallest tower without too much trouble. We ran into more once we were actually inside, but since it was past curfew, everyone was in their rooms and not in the hall on the first floor. EVE set me down outside one particularly armored room and put a finger to the base of her screen in a shushing motion, then she went to the control panel and typed a bit on it. Occasionally, she would move away from the keypad and bring a hand to her chin, and then go back to typing, but eventually, the heavy door pulled inward and then slid sideways. EVE grabbed me again to bring me inside.**

 **"Kay, we'd better hurry, because I don't actually have authorization to be in here." she set me down inside, going back to close the door, "Let's see here..." she stretched out her fingers in front of the massive keyboard, "How to contact the humans..." she began to work furiously,** ** _"...without attracting Auto's attention..."_**

 **I took in the rest of the room while walls of text flashed in EVE's visor. It was by far the coolest-looking room I'd ever seen, with lights on every surface and holograms showing various places throughout the square outside. I could hear plenty of hard drives whirring along with the clacking of EVE's fingers on the keys. I began to wonder if she even noticed anything around her in the room or if her attention was entirely focused on cracking the code to get into the database. I tried not to stare at her in case the latter was true.**

 **I heard something shuffling outside, and it sounded like it was getting closer. I was hoping it was just someone passing through, but then I heard a subtle clicking sound against the door.**

 **"Eve?"**

 **She didn't respond.**

 **"Eve!"**

 **"What?" she turned to me, annoyed. The clicking continued and she snapped her head around, eyes wide. She went back to the keyboard and did some more furious scrabbling before the monitor shut off and she grabbed me, hiding us behind some heavier machines.**

 **The door swung open again and a smaller robot entered. It had one giant red light on top of its body and tiny arms stemming up vertically from its shoulders.**

 ** _"Go-4..."_** **EVE breathed, narrowing her eyes and placing a hand over my solar-charge display. I didn't dare move a muscle as the robot, "GO-4", turned the monitor back on and did some typing. EVE stifled a flinch.**

 **GO-4 paused, pressed a big red button on the side of the console, and then ran out of the room. The door closed, and he was gone.**

 **"Goddammit." EVE hissed, flying with me back to the keyboard, "If he deleted my progress, I swear I'll..."**

 **I watched her type for a second, "What was that?"**

 **"Just a security check." EVE answered without looking at me, "I completely forgot about it. I just hope that..." she trailed off as she sighed, "Oh wow. Nothing was deleted. That's a relief."**

 **I got a confused sort of vibe from that half-hearted response, but I didn't question it, turning back to the door in case someone else decided to interrupt her work.**

 **The fans in the room kicked up as EVE hit one last key, "I...I think I did it! Haha!" she lifted both fists in triumph, "Okay, now all I need to do is contact someone, anyone, as long as it isn't Auto." she hesitated at the controls.**

 **"What's wrong?" I asked timidly, still not daring to move.**

 **"I don't know...I feel like it was too easy..." EVE sighed, "Well, I did all I could, so here goes nothing..." she pulled up a separate holographic screen and tapped it. The screen changed to a call symbol. EVE rubbed her hands nervously.**

 **The screen flickered, and in its place stood a human with brown hair and a somewhat muscular build,** ** _"Eve!"_** **he saluted,** ** _"It's good to see you again!"_**

 **EVE blinked, looking all around her and then back at the screen, "Who are you?"**

 ** _"Yeah, it's been awhile, hasn't it?"_** **he stuck a white captain's hat on his head,** ** _"But surly you at least recognize me, right?"_**

 **EVE gasped, "I do! You were one of the humans at the control panel when me and my sisters were created!"**

 ** _"Bingo!"_** **he seemed rather pleased with himself,** ** _"My name is Captain Jonathan Burnham. I was in charge of the original dispatch of the robots that stayed behind on Earth, including you and your sisters. I must say, One, I'm incredibly impressed that you managed to hack through all of Auto's firewalls, but I should tell you that you were almost caught. I rewired your access to my own personal link to avoid this."_**

 **"Oh." EVE blushed, "Sorry."**

 ** _"Hey, I'm still impressed. If you weren't so meticulous, you would have been caught long before I realized you were trying to get in. But I must ask, you've already been living there for a long time, so why contact us now?"_**

 **"Because..." EVE stared down at her hands, "Because...we need your help..."**

 **She then went on to explain everything. How she met me, how everything went wrong, how she ended up falling in love, and her desire to fix everything and save her sisters. The longer she spoke, the more obvious it became that she still blamed herself for letting the plant get destroyed and the manner in which I was electrocuted and nearly died. Her voice was dripping with sorrow and guilt, it broke my heart.**

 **"So..." she finished, rubbing her screen as her eyes glitched, "Is there anything you can do?"**

 **Jonathan was somber,** ** _"I don't think I can do much, but I'll see what I can manage."_** **he rubbed the back of his neck,** ** _"I'm sorry, Eve. If I'd have known-!"_**

 **"I don't want your pity." EVE snapped quickly, "And you didn't know. I just want to know if you can do something now."**

 ** _"Okay."_** **Jonathan began to type on a keyboard that was out of frame,** ** _"Here's my link in case you want to keep talking. Oh, and don't forget to delete the history on this console before you leave."_**

 **"I know." EVE saluted, "Goodbye, Captain."**

 **"Bye."**

 **The feed cut out and EVE did a little more typing before shutting the whole thing down, "We'd better go."**

 **I looked back at the blank monitor, catching our reflections in the old glass.**

 **I looked like a broken ghost.**


	12. Chapter 12

_EVE's Perspective_

 _Almost there..._ I mumbled. After making successful contact with the humans, we managed to work out where they were in relation to the Earth so they could come home without the aid of the programming involved when putting a plant in the holo-detector, but unfortunately, AUTO was still the literal steering wheel of the ship, so he would know immediately if someone was trying to get them home. Ugh, why did everything have to be so difficult!?

"Eve?"

I placed my hand on his chest, "Not now, Wall-E. I'm waiting for something."

"No! Eve!"

"What?" I realized a second too late. I was swept up in a red stasis beam, "AGH!"

"Eve!"

"Wall-E! _Do something!"_ I yelled, panicking as I struggled against the force of it.

WALL-E quickly split his eyes apart, drawing a laser out from between them. He took out the security-bot holding me in place, allowing me to spin around and off the rest of them.

"Thanks." I grabbed him and swiftly took our leave, "Sorry for that. I didn't know you had a weapon."

"Actually, it's just what I needed."

I waited for him to add to that remark, but he never did.

"Well, if they know we're here then we have to hurry." I swerved around a corner.

"So, what's the plan?"

I thought about how to phrase it, "I don't want to say it out loud, but I can say that you'll play a part in it. I'll describe it when the time comes."

I didn't cut corners with this plan. I'd thought about it nonstop for more than a day, and I was sure that by this point, nothing could surprise me.

First, the infiltration. With the information I'd gathered, I came to the realization that with the proper coding, I could _in theory_ trick the holo-detector into thinking it had a plant in it. Unfortunately, I didn't have the finest grasp on coding, so first we would need to prepare. I _was_ fluent in the programming language the computers used in place of Binary, but this wasn't just a few new lines of code; This code would tear the normal code wide open and reroute electrical pathways until some of them ran backwards. Not only would I have to create the new code without running into too many bugs, but I would also have to prevent the preexisting code from finding the change and trying to fight it. The second one was a lot more problematic and the reason I couldn't even _begin_ to do this on my own.

The infiltration would involve me sneaking into the tower and breaking my sisters out. Since we'd been found out, we would have to do it a little more hastily than originally planned.

"Okay." I set WALL-E outside the tower, lightly touching the signaler I'd stolen and synced to my frequency, then stuck on his head, "Stay hidden. If you see anything heading towards the window, let me know."

He nodded, so I flew up and checked the window for any sensors or cameras. All was clear, so I slid the window out of its frame and checked into the computer what the emergency password was. I went to every terminal and unlocked them, letting each one slowly wake up.

 _O-One...?_ Two was the first to speak up, "Huh? What's going on?"

"One! You're back!" Four exclaimed, "What happened! Is Wall-E okay!?"

"Be quiet!" I hissed, straining my ears to determine if we were toast. When I didn't hear anything, I glowered at my sisters, "We're going to run away. I need you guys to help me get the humans back. And yes, Wall-E is alive, but I can't go into detail just yet! Let's get out of here first!"

Four grimaced, "We can't."

I blinked at her, processing what she'd just said, "What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean we can't." she repeated, "We've been microchipped. I can't get them off, either."

"Microchipped!?" I ran my knuckles over my metal skull, _"I thought I'd prepared for everything..."_ I inhaled calmly, "Where?"

"Right here." Four tapped the back of her head, "Don't try to scan it either. It has sensors that detect scanners."

 _"Of course it does_ okay let's try something else." I hovered out the window, "One second." I flew down, took WALL-E from his hiding spot, and got him through the window, "Five. Watch the window for us."

She nodded before doing as she was told.

"Wall-E has a laser in between his eyes." I explained, "Maybe he could cut the microchips out."

Three's eyebrow lifted, "Seriously?"

"Do you have a better idea?" I sneered at her.

"Hang on a second, I can't do that!" WALL-E interjected, "And even if I could somehow do it once, I can't do it four times!"

"Well we have to do something!" I massaged my temples, _"Ugh..."_

It took one more second before I heard WALL-E rolling his treads behind my digital eyelids, "Where is it?"

Four tapped a place behind her head and WALL-E focused on the spot, drilling his laser gently into it.

 _"Ow."_ Four stifled a gasp as something tiny and metal dropped out of her casing.

It took just as long to get to everyone else, and I took Five's place watching the window with hers. Why did WALL-E switch so quickly from, "I can't do this." to, "Let's do this, Friendos." in less than four seconds?

"Eve." WALL-E shook my arm, "We're ready to go."

"Okay." I picked WALL-E up and carried him out, my sisters close behind.

"Whoa..." Three rubbed the deep dent in her head, "That was pretty amazing, Wall-E."

"Um...thank you."

I set us down far from the city, in a random direction. It took us to a dirt-crested hill with one lone dead tree on it. Nearby on the ground sat the outer tubing of a tire with chains through it.

A tire swing.

I set WALL-E down on the hill, forcing it out of my mind for the moment, "Okay. Four, I need your help with this."

So I sat down with her and she attempted to talk me through the code. I'd brought a little pocket computer with me so I could work through it. I didn't have the original code at first, so there were a lot of things I'd done wrong that I needed to retype, but it was a lot easier with Four there with me.

We lay back at the base of the hill. I tried to imagine this hill covered in grass, a gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the tree, the sky a bright, vibrant blue, but the colors were so dull. It was all so brown.

"Eve." WALL-E lay down next to me, "Why are you all called One, Two, Three, Four, and Five? Why don't you have names?"

"Huh?" Two settled into the brittle branches of the dead tree, "Aren't you named the same as the other Wall-Es?"

"That's different." he insisted, "They're all the same, besides me. You're all distinct. You all have different personalities, it's just odd to call you by your serial numbers, isn't it?"

"Not really." Four tapped the hologram with one finger, "We're just used to it."

WALL-E lay his head back into the soft earth, "Hm..."

Four typed a few more lines before allowing me to add my own input. It was a relief to finally have at least some of the source code. It wasn't enough to build all the code we would need, but understanding its defenses was just as important, and trying to figure out how to negate that defense without alerting AUTO would be an interesting challenge, but I began to notice Four spacing out as we were trying to work. It was so peculiar.

"Four?" I waved my hand in front of her face, "Are you paying attention?"

"What?" She blinked blearily, "Oh, right. Where were we?"

WALL-E was so relaxed at this point I was sure he would fall asleep.

"Four." I let both arms rest on my abdomen, "Are you spacing out?"

"Spacing out?" Three flicked a rubber band she'd found in the mess, "You mean like that thing humans do when they stop paying attention to their surroundings and get lost in their own fleshy minds?"

Four stared up into the clouds, "I was just thinking. Maybe Wall-E is right."

At the sound of his own name, WALL-E instinctively turned his head, "About what?"

"About us having proper names." Four tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Four just sounds so awfully robotic, don't you think?"

"Eve number Three..." Three muttered, the rubber band _thwack!_ -ing against her face, "Ack! Yeah, I mean no, but now that I think about it, having our serial numbers as our names is _boring!_ I want a _cool_ name!"

"I-I would like a nice name..." Five sighed dreamily to herself.

"Okay, let's give ourselves real names." Two grinned, "They could be like _secret code names!"_

I was flabbergasted, "Seriously? You all want to stray from robotic norms?"

"Don't say it like that." Two leaned forward so her chin was resting on one of the sturdier-looking branches, "It sounds too stoic."

"I'm not kidding!" I flew up into the air to face them all, "Listen. I'm not against the idea, but if Auto found out...!"

"Dude, we're already in some deep hot water." Three stretched the rubber band between her fingers, "He already wants our heads to be served on silver platters, what difference does a little more defiance make?"

"I agree!" Two pumped her fist in the air, "The only problem is _what_ we would actually name ourselves..."

"Leah." Four said with absolute certainty, "I've always loved that name."

"Leah." I repeated. It had a nice ring to it, honestly.

"Hmmm..." Two rubbed her hands together, "How abooouuut...Aya! That name is German, I think..."

Three gave up with the rubber band after it smacked her in the eye, "I want my name to be Rio. Dunno why, it just sounds cool."

"Rose." Five said very quietly, leaning against the base of the tree, "Please call me Rose. I love roses."

I looked around at all of them. It was almost like they'd taken a new identity with those names. Two; Aya. Three; Rio. Four; Leah. Five; Rose. They felt more real this way, and somehow, that made them even more beautiful.

I realized they were waiting on me, "Oh, um...c-can I just be called Eve? I think I've gotten too attached to that name to let it go..."

"Sure!" Aya exclaimed. Aya, not Two, "So, we have names now."

"It would appear so." Rose floated up to rest beside Aya in the branches.

"Haha." Rio swiped at her forehead, like she was flipping human hair, "So now we're like, really sisters? And not just a copy of the same blueprints?"

"It's nice." Leah hadn't budged from her spot at the base of the hill, "Isn't it, Eve?"

I frowned slightly, "I...I don't know...I mean, it's cool and all I guess, but what does it really mean?"

"It means becoming human..." Leah took a deep breath, _"Almost_ human..."

"I like your new names." WALL-E shot me the most patient-looking smile I'd ever seen, "Now you feel more your own."

For a second I didn't move, then I let myself laugh a little, "I see..." I let myself float back down to where I'd rested previously, "Now then, Leah. Where were we in the program?"

OOO

 _EVE's Perspective_

 _Ow._

REBOOT

Something was pounding at the back of my head. I tried to dismiss it as a stubborn headache, but I hadn't realized it was also beeping in time with the rhythmic throbbing.

My eyes widened, and I tried to shoot upwards, but something held me down. Metal constrainers connected to leather straps. I couldn't even lift my head, everything was held down firmly and securely. I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my speaker, and it just made my headache worsen. I suddenly began to hear it; The throbbing, mixed with a high-pitched ringing and static. I realized what was happening and began to hyperventilate, struggling against the straps with all my strength.

Nothing but darkness surrounded me on all sides, but I did see something through it in my hysteria; A single bright red light.

The light was horrible to look at.

Nothing about it had changed from the last time I saw it, not really, but for some reason my brain was making up horrific things about it, like throbbing veins and tiny cracks that resembled spiderwebs. The light looked as if it had three sections, resembling a sclera, iris, and pupil respectively. The inner circle was the most vibrant red while the outermost ring was almost a deep burgundy. The thickest section was the iris, the veins and cracks most prominent, while the tiniest prick of blood-red in the middle was the smallest section. It felt like I was staring into the eye of the devil, contorting my mind however he wished, soaking with a promise of torture. Even when I closed my eyes the eye was still there, burned into my robotic retinas, stuck like a sticker against my eyelids. I couldn't forget the way the sclera seemed to radiate with every pound of my headache, how every vein bulged with the desire to bleed, how every crack glowed like it was glistening with dew drops in the early morning sun.

I struggled even harder against my constraints, wishing the eye could just _go away so I could focus on my own thoughts leave me alone!_ I felt the heat of the room get to me, and my system was running like a madman to keep me from overheating. It clearly wasn't working though, and even once I'd passed out, the image of that eye would still be burned into my mind. My headache increased in intensity, and no matter how hard I screamed, no matter how sore my voice chip became, I couldn't make a sound! Finally, too exhausted to keep struggling, I let the eye creep up on me until it was right over my head, blocking my view of the ceiling.

That was all I remembered before my head exploded.

"EVE!"

I screamed, slamming my head into the dead tree. A dream. It was a dream, it was all a dream.

It was a _dream_ dammit! _Why!?_

"Eve!" WALL-E brought me back to my senses, "Eve, it's okay. You had a nightmare. What happened?"

I gulped, trying to clear the fog from my head. It didn't feel like I was awake, it felt like the remains of my circuit boards were smeared all over the walls, but I raked my fingers over my head. There. It was all there. Intact. Undamaged. Well, mostly undamaged.

"Eve" Four-no, Leah cradled her head in my hands, "Hush. You're awake now, none of that was real."

It had _felt_ real.

"I..." I tried to keep my voice even, "H-he wouldn't do that, r-right?"

The worst punishment; Silence. It was a memory wipe, correct? Surely my nightmare was just that; A bad dream. Surely even AUTO wasn't low enough to start killing his own allies. Right? Did he even consider us his allies? Or were we just stepping stones to an uncertain future? It was certainly _easier_ to start killing us off, but did he really think that...?

"Eve!" Three; Rio shook my shoulders, "You have to start breathing!"

I sucked in violently through my speaker.

"What are you talking about, Eve?" Leah rubbed both her thumbs along my cheeks, "Who wouldn't do what?"

"A-Auto." I choked out, "H-he wouldn't...do that, would he? He can't. Nothing about it makes sense." I could feel myself helplessly sobbing as the panic wore off.

"What are you saying?" Two; Aya placed a hand on my back, "Are you accusing Auto of murder?"

"N-no, not ac-cusing. Just..." Just what? Trying to justify what I'd seen? What my own fear-riddled brain had made up storing my short-term memory?

"It's not real." WALL-E took both my hands in his own, "Whatever you saw, I don't care if it was realistic, it's still not real."

That one haunting eye was still in the back of my mind, but the image was chased away when I stared into WALL-E's eyes. Dull and brown, but somehow still full of life. I had begun to notice that his optics curved downward just slightly, no matter how he felt at the time, and the lenses over his retinas were clean enough to shine. The cameras in his eyes were almost a dull blue, and I could see the tiny circles that expanded or contracted to focus on certain distances without the need for a digital micro-zoom function. I hadn't really looked at them like this before, but they were still so familiar. I found myself touching each optic, running my thumbs over the lenses.

"Uh, Eve? What are you doing?" he seemed perplexed by my fascination, but he didn't move away.

"Just...calming down." was all I said.

He wrapped his hands around my wrists, apparently contented with my inspection of his eyes. When I finally drew back, the lenses moved inward and tiny windshield wipers swished over them. So that's how they had stayed so clean.

Fascinating.

I couldn't stifle a yawn, "...thanks, you guys..."

"No problem." Aya touched my cheek, "We've still got a few more hours until morning."

I checked my internal clock; 3:20 am.

"Sleep tight." Leah was first back into stasis.

"Don't scare me so badly, Eve." Aya was next, "I thought we'd been found."

Rio just nodded towards me before following suit.

Five, Rose, was the last to leave. All she did was give me a big hug, then she backed away and also went to sleep.

WALL-E watched them for a second, "Well, you're okay now, aren't you?"

I looked away from him.

"I see..." he clasped his hand with mine, "I can stay awake with you, if you want."

"No, that's fine." I placed my free hand over my face, "But...if you don't mind..."

"Not at all." he led me down the hill, "I don't need sleep as much as I need sunlight."

"Mhmm." I replied, not really believing him but not questioning it either.

"What did you even see that scared you so much?"

Remembering the bulging red light, I shuttered, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's fine. We don't have to." we were now at the base of the hill on the opposite side from my sisters, "Have you ever seen the stars?"

A swift change of subject. I visibly relaxed at that, "No. I've seen pictures though, on the Axiom database."

"It's nothing like the real thing." WALL-E sat down, "When the whole galaxy is visible, there are so many stars that it all blends together into a cluster of sparkles."

His description was precious. Logically, we should be able to see the stars from here, but the sky was never quite clear enough at night to see them perfectly. It was just too bright near the city for any stars to be visible, even in the dead of night.

WALL-E suddenly gasped, "Eve! Look!"

"Huh?" I looked up.

Trillions of tiny white lights assaulted my eyes. They seemed to form in a deep, cosmic cloud, and without any light pollution so far away from the bright buildings, it seemed to stand out even more brilliantly. I lay down on my back. iHow stunning./i

WALL-E lay back with me, "I used to see the stars like this every day. I took it for granted, and then when I realized I couldn't see them anymore, I began to miss them."

Because of all the clouds.

A sudden thought occurred to me, "We have to get a closer look."

WALL-E flinched, "What?"

"We could go up there..." I found myself reaching out with my arm, "We could see some of those close up. We could even visit them. Wouldn't that be incredible?"

WALL-E chuckled, taking my outstretched hand, _"It would be..."_

I looked at our entwined hands, white and grey to match the white and black of the sky.

I turned and held WALL-E close to me.

"Ah! Whoa, Eve, what're you-!"

"Be quiet." I responded automatically, "You wouldn't want to wake my sisters."

He relaxed, facing me and returning my hug. Maybe I could finally go back to sleep.

"I love you, Wall-E..." I felt my eyes flickering out.

It was true. Plain and simple, my love for WALL-E was now officially un-platonic. In the most irrational of terms, I loved him. I cared for him on a fundamental level, beyond basic programming. Why would the humans allow for such feelings like love? It didn't make any sense, but somehow it didn't need to.

Just before I fell into the abyss of stasis, I barely heard WALL-E whisper, _"I love you too, Evah..."_


	13. Chapter 13

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **"Wow..." I breathed. I was watching EVE and Leah work through the code together. EVE seemed to be doing much better since her episode last night, and I could tell she was in higher spirits today. As the code became more complete, EVE's mood seemed to rise, until she was practically giddy from anticipation, but she forced herself to focus on their work. Every once in awhile both EVE and Leah would both become confused about something, in which case they would turn to the other sisters. I felt a bit left out of this whole programming thing, but it was still fun watching them interact like this.**

 **"I..." Leah started, "I think we did it."**

 **"We did?" EVE looked back through the code.**

 **"Yeah!" Leah laughed, "Oh, wow. That took** ** _forever!_** **Now we just need the base code."**

 ** _"Uuuuuuggggghhhhhhhh..."_** **EVE groaned dramatically.**

 **"Calm down there, friendo." Rio was testing the rubber band from before like a projectile weapon, "Better than silence, amiright?"**

 **EVE flinched before Rio realized she'd said something wrong.**

 **The rubber band hit her eye again and fell to the ground, "Eve, I'm sorry, I didn't-!"**

 **"It's fine." EVE hid her irritation, "We have a mission. Leah, how long do we have until the new security-bots are deployed?"**

 **"According to past experience, we have until three pm next Sunday."**

 **"So we've got three days." EVE clenched her hand into a fist, "Then we'd better hurry. Even before that, Auto is likely to catch on to our plan and send other reinforcements."**

 **"Noted." Leah folded the pocket computer and stashed it within her stasis chamber, "We need time. Luckily, the code we worked out will help us get through the security surrounding the base code. Once we're through, we just need to buy time until I can reach it, which will be...difficult."**

 ** _"Difficult."_** **Rio muttered angrily, the rubber band breaking in her hands, "Like everything else we've pulled off thus far."**

 **"We can do it again." Leah playfully punched EVE's shoulder, "Isn't that right?"**

 **"I don't know." EVE took my optic in her hand. For some reason, she'd taken to staring at my eyes several times over the morning. I couldn't imagine why.**

 **"Why do you keep doing that?" Aya rested her chin in her hands.**

 **"Huh?" EVE blinked, looking up at her, "Oh, sorry. I just...it's nothing."**

 **"Come on, guys." Leah shook a still-sleeping Rose awake, "We'd better get moving."**

 **"Hold on." EVE pressed a finger to the side of her head, "Before we go, I'm comming Captain Burnham. He might have an update since last I called."**

 **"Alright, make it quick."**

 **I could hear a very soft ringing through EVE's system, her fan kicking up as she waited patiently.**

 ** _"Eve?"_**

 **She exhaled, "Captain. Have you managed anything yet?"**

 ** _"As a matter of fact, I have!"_** **some keyboard clacking could be heard in the background,** ** _"I contacted the captain of the Axiom, Captain McCrea, if he would be willing to help us out, and he was more than happy! He's the one who will route the code past the Autopilot so we remain undetected until it's too late."_**

 **Listening to Captain Burnham over EVE's speaker phone was a little odd. It was quieter than her voice, but it also seemed to ring out farther. I assumed she could hear him just fine, without any distortion.**

 **EVE clenched her free hand into a fist, "How long will it take?"**

 ** _"Not too long. If we're lucky, he'll manage it as soon as you get there."_**

 **"So..." EVE clicked her fingers against each other, "We're in the clear?"**

 ** _"You bet! Oh, and also you can remain on the call with me while you're doing it!"_**

 **All the EVE's blue orbs widened at that, "You can?"**

 ** _"I have access to the security code Auto uses on the new city."_**

 **"That's amazing!" EVE grinned, "So you can let us know if something happens on your end?"**

 ** _"And vice-versa."_** **Burnham laughed,** ** _"It pays to be captain, eh?"_**

 **"Alright, I'll stay on the call with you, and I'll add my sisters if that's okay."**

 ** _"By all means, Miss Eve One!"_**

 **The call was taken off speaker and all the other EVE's seemed to nod when they were added to the call.**

 **"Oh." EVE took my hand, "His name is Wall-E. You know, the old robot I told you about. He won't be able to hear you for this mission, but we're taking him with us." she suddenly, furiously blushed, "Shut up, I get it."**

 **I couldn't help myself laughing a little.**

 **"Okay." EVE lifted me into her arms, "Let's go."**

* * *

 _EVE's Perspective_

The city itself hadn't changed at all in the past month, but there was a certain atmosphere that definitely hadn't been there before. All the robots that had previously been bustling about taking care of their various directives were now holed up in the tower, afraid to leave in case there was another bloodbath. I couldn't blame them, really. Had I been in their place, I'm sure I would have done the same.

I don't know, though. Part of me was afraid that if the new security robots came early, no one would be out here to help. I still didn't know if this plan would even work, but it was either that or run away, and the second wasn't an option, so here goes nothing.

It could have been really epic, I guess, but really it just ended up being a lot of typing and retyping.

For hours and hours.

"Got it!" Rio slapped the wall beside her, "Did it work?"

I checked and rechecked all the coding, "Captain Burnham! What happened!?"

 _"Dude!"_ Burnham laughed, _"The Axiom is going home! You should see it any minute!"_

"Seriously!?" I rushed to the other side of the room, where the space feed was rolling, "He's right! Look!"

All my sisters gathered around me to watch.

"Whoa!" Rio laughed, "Let's go meet them!"

 _"Hold on a minute!"_ Burnham stopped us before we'd reached the door, _"Captain McCrea has informed us that their autopilot is_ pissed off. _Please, proceed with caution, as Auto still has complete control over most of that city. You will all likely be silenced."_

"Well, that doesn't seem so bad anymore." Leah placed her arm around Rose, "Um...right?"

Burnham didn't respond at first. He just let the silence hang until the atmosphere around them tensed.

 _"Silence isn't a memory wipe."_ he finally said, all the humor in his voice replaced with dead seriousness, _"There's a reason it's called Silence and not Relocation; You aren't relocated, they just kill you."_

"What?"

"They can't do that!" Rio said. We could hear the Axiom touching base, but none of us seemed to care about our victory at the moment, "It's a waste of..."

She didn't finish.

"Resources." I tried to keep my voice even, "Just say it. Killing robots is a waste of resources."

Leah flinched, moving to the front of the group, "But that's disrespectful..."

"Disrespectful!?" all the stress from the hack was catching up to me, and it was getting harder to control myself, "Do you think they care!? They just want you gone! If you can change once you can change again, so they just..."

"Eve, are you okay?" WALL-E took both my hands. I hadn't realized how much they were shaking.

I squeezed my eyes shut. The humans were back. Whatever AUTO had wanted, well...he had lost. Right? I tried to make the hushed breathing sounds to calm myself down, but something still didn't feel right.

"No." I answered honestly, "Not really."

My nightmare the previous night was crashing back to the front of my mind. I was right. AUTO was a murderer. And I had no idea what to do with that information.

"Well, come on then." WALL-E gave my shoulder a gentle tug, "We'll stay far away from him if that makes you feel better."

He still had no idea. None of them did. I hadn't told them about...

 _"Eve, are you still there?"_

"What? Yes. Sorry." I shook my head to clear it, "Let's just get out of here."

The Axiom had touched down gracefully. The humans on it scrambled to get off, some on foot, others on hovering chairs, but most of them were aided by other robots. It was astounding how fast they could move with so much extra weight on their bodies, but perhaps they were fitter than I gave them credit for.

"Auto! Lemme go!" a man's voice, _"That's an order!"_

Aya moved to the front of our group, "That's Captain McCrea!"

"All authority to humans has been terminated." Auto had managed to strap the captain down into one of the hover chairs, which was following the wheel like a lackey.

"Terminated!?" McCrea struggled under the bindings.

"Captain!" Aya went after him.

"Aya wait!" Leah tried to stop her, but she'd already slipped by.

"No!" Rio hissed angrily, unsheathing her weapon.

"Rio! Stop!" Rose gently pushed the laser away, "We don't want to provoke them!"

"But Aya-!"

Before I could do anything to diffuse the situation, we were suddenly surrounded by the humans.

"Guys! It's those Eve Probes!"

"I remember them! Did they find plants?"

"I can breathe here, if that counts for anything."

I was beginning to feel the ground sway below me. I'd just been staring at a screen of code for hours, and now sights and sounds were all around me. I was overwhelmed. All their words began to blur together. I waved my arms around, knowing that if I didn't find something to lean on I would surely lose consciousness.

"Hey! Everyone back off!"

The blurry filter subsided, and I realized I was leaning on Leah. She had one arm wrapped around my back and the other hand on my cheek, "Are you okay?"

I blinked, slipping from her grasp and landing with a _thud!_ on the ground. The smell of plastic in the fake grass made everything worse.

"Guys! Stop it!" Leah seemed out of it too, but not as bad as me, "We've had a long day! We need space, please!"

I lifted my head, just catching a streak of brown in the thinning crowd. I was suddenly alert.

"W-Wall-E! _Wait!"_

AUTO was staring Aya down with an intense ferocity. Never in my 20 or so years of living had I seen someone look so angry with just one inexpressive optic. I remembered how his eye looked in my dream, and my desperation to get everyone away from him heightened. I could not risk anyone getting hurt from his reckless actions, especially at such a level of rage.

"Stay away from him!" Aya blocked AUTO from the captain's hover chair, pressing a button on it to make it halt in place.

"Eve!?" McCrea stopped struggling, "What are you doing!? Get out of here!"

I couldn't tell clearly in my muted senses, but Aya was trying hard not to shake with fear.

"N-No!" Aya pushed the chair away from AUTO, "D-Don't hurt him! He didn't do anything wrong!"

I looked back at all my other sisters, who were not only distracted, but seemed to be almost as dazed as I was. What was wrong with me!? And why was Aya putting herself in such deliberate danger!?

Aya was trying to find a way to free the captain, but she couldn't take her eyes off AUTO, and she couldn't risk putting the captain between herself and the livid wheel. Besides, even from where I was, I could tell that Aya had very clumsy fingers. Did she realize she was playing with fire!?

The world suddenly swayed, and I found myself falling to the concrete. My vision blurred again.

AUTO suddenly turned, and my heart lept into my throat, but he wasn't looking at me.

 _"You..."_

That one word burned my internal microphones. I realized what was happening too late.

AUTO, in his blind, failure-induced anger, shoved WALL-E with all his might, clicking one of his spokes which remotely controlled the holo-detector.

It came down too fast.

"WALL-E! _NOOO!"_

All I could hear in my panic was the grinding of soft metal, caving in, crushing batteries and circuit boards. Tears. Pain. More panic and more noise.

 _So much noise..._


	14. Chapter 14

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 ** _I'm...not dead...?_**

 **I opened my eyes in confusion. I was trying to get Aya away from that maniac, but somehow I ended up in his line of fire instead. I felt the shove, and I knew I heard a lot of caving metal, so if it wasn't me...**

 **"EVE!" Aya screamed.**

 **All the noise died down as Aya bolted for her sister. I lifted my head from the fake grass, trying to clear the sudden headache.**

 **I wish I'd never seen it.**

 **Yellow battery acid mixed with white shocks of metal poking out at odd angles. ribbon cables and wires and boards, chips, broken glass overtop a shattered black display that glittered in the sunlight. Everything about her was unrecognizable. I felt sick. She should never look like that. But she's so strong! There's no way...**

 **Everything about it was wrong.**

 **I tore my eyes away, trying to ignore the sobs of the other EVEs. They sounded so much like her.**

 **"Let this be a lesson to you all." AUTO didn't bother to hide the venom in his voice, "On Sunday, you will all be terminated. No exceptions. All humans are to board the Axiom until further notice, and all robots are to go to the white tower until termination can begin."**

 **There weren't any robots outside anyway besides the EVEs and myself, but none of the humans seemed to budge from where they were.**

 **"Fine. Do not board the Axiom." AUTO slipped inside the giant shuttle and every door slammed shut. My ears were ringing.**

 **"Wall-E?"**

 **I looked up. I can't tell EVE's sisters apart from each other, but from the softness of her gaze and quiet voice, I knew it had to be Rose.**

 **"Are you okay?"**

 **No. I didn't think I'd ever be okay again. Not now, not if EVE couldn't be saved.**

 **"Good heavens!" A woman's voice cut through the tense silence, "What's going on here!?"**

 **The sudden sound seemed to break the trance, because Aya left EVE's side to free Captain McCrea from his chair. Otherwise, everyone seemed looser, calmer.**

 **I could feel bitterness at the back of my throat.**

 **"Alright, everyone!?" McCrea rose his voice over the crowd, "This is your captain speaking! I want to make sure no one else gets hurt! Get inside that building and try to tend to any casualties! I'll try to get in touch with other ships! Are we all clear!?"**

 **I just caught the humans nodding. They must already be familiar with this drivel.**

 **"Good! Let's move, then!"**

 **Leah joined her sister on my other side, "Wall-E. Want us to take you inside?"**

 **I was grateful that they were thinking of me, but all I could manage was a stiff nod. I was afraid if I used my voice (which was weak anyway) I would end up crying instead.**

 **Nobody tried to move EVE, but Aya assured me that they would as soon as possible. Although, they all seemed eager to do nothing but stare.**

 **"Hey." I turned towards the voice mechanically, recognizing it as the woman who'd broken the trance before, "Are you alright?"**

 ** _Why is everyone asking me that?_**

 **"He'll be fine." Aya assured her, "He's just shaken is all."**

 **"Oh, I see."**

 **I don't remember much besides that. I was trying to keep my mind blank or risk thinking about everything too hard. The woman's name was Mary, I think, but again, I wasn't sure. I was numb.**

 **What were we going to do?**

* * *

 **No matter who spoke to me or who interacted with the sisters over the next several hours, I didn't soak up any of that information. I couldn't read the sisters' expressions most of the time, but they seemed sad. A flat kind of sad. I wasn't sure what that meant, but again, I didn't think too hard about it.**

 **"Wall-E." Leah touched my cheek, making me inhale sharply, "You've been awfully quiet. Do you wanna talk about what's on your mind?"**

 **I leaned into her hand, feeling warmer in the smooth metal, "N-no..."**

 **"That's okay..." Leah must have picked up on my reaction to physical contact, because she pulled me into a side-hug, stroking my head with her free hand, "You don't have to. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"**

 **I relaxed against the wall, leaning into the familiarity of her curve, "No."**

 **It wasn't EVE, I knew that, but somehow, she kind of felt like EVE. They were copies of the same blueprints, after all. I could tell, though, there was a difference; EVE's touch was more firm and secure while Leah's was more gentle and soft. It made me think of the time I'd opened up to EVE, about when my brothers were used to paint the walls in red.**

 **"I...I just..." why was I thinking about it!?**

 **Leah tilted her head to show she was listening, "Yes?"**

 **"I..." I began to shake, so Leah held me tighter, "I've already lost so many..."**

 **I couldn't help it. I broke down. I thought of everything I'd seen; Every time one of my brothers falls out of commission, I can't help but wonder if I'd done something wrong. I hid my emotions away knowing the others would become suspicious, but I heaved that guilt onto myself. I grieved over every new empty box that was added to the collection, I cried over all of them, and I tried to forget about how losing more and more of them made me feel. But at least I knew. I knew what our fate was, so it didn't hurt so much when one of them fell. I knew I'd fall with them eventually, too.**

 **But EVE was** ** _new!_** **I should have died before her! It's not fair! I should have been crushed and not her! Why did she have to push me out of the way!? Why couldn't she have just-!**

 **"Wall-E!" Leah broke through my fog, "You have to breathe!"**

 **I shakily inhaled. It calmed me somewhat, but I immediately resumed my sobbing. I'd locked all this away for too long, it felt good to finally let it all out.**

 ** _"Oh my God..."_** **Rose wrapped her arms around Aya, who squeezed her back.**

 **"No. No!" Rio slammed her fist against the shiny wall.**

 **"Wall-E..." Leah rubbed the back of my head. She didn't ask me to elaborate, which was nice, but I was afraid she would once I'd calmed enough to even speak again. Never in my wildest dreams had I felt pain like this. It felt like I'd been stabbed through the chest, or like someone had torn my battery out and squeezed it. I don't remember when I'd calmed enough to stop sobbing so hard, but I do remember it becoming strangely quiet before darkness overtook me.**

* * *

 **"So...what should we do?"**

 **Leah held my crumpled frame up, propping me against the wall so I could sleep, "About what?"**

 **"About..." Rio dropped onto the floor, "Well, everything, really."**

 **"What do** ** _you_** **suggest we do?" Aya had begun to cry as well. She held Rose's hand while she rubbed her screen, "It's not like we can do much from here."**

 **"But we can't just give up!" Rio jumped up to pace around the crowded room, "Good God, I've never seen anyone in so much pain..."**

 **"Hey, guys, it's okay." Leah sighed, "Listen, it might be too late to save Eve, but what about the humans? What about the rest of the robots? We have to do something, and hey, Auto can't do much without all those security-bots."**

 **"That's true." Rio tapped her chin, "But what should we do?"**

 **"Well..." Leah glanced at me, her eyes growing sad. She straightened up, turning to the others, "How about this? If we can deactivate Auto, maybe the captains can regain control of the ship!"**

 **"But how can we even get** _ **close**_ **to him!?" Aya inhaled. She forced herself to pause so she could speak unhindered, "He's still cunning and strong, even without those dead weights."**

 **"Well, yeah..." Leah sighed, "There's no way we can do this alone."**

 ** _Then don't!_**

 **M-O had strode into the room, his electric-yellow eyes alight with a bright smile.**

 **"M-O!" Aya exclaimed.**

 **"He's not the only one." V-GR was next in line, followed by Captain McCrea. They realized there were about a hundred more humans and robots in the hallway, all buzzing with anticipation and glowing with excitement.**

 **"You guys would help us?" Leah was touched.**

 **"Of course! This is our future too!" McCrea did some typing on a pocket computer, "I've already got contact with the Atlanta!"**

 ** _"What's up, Eves!?"_** **Captain Burnham waved from the video call.**

 **"Captain Burnham!" Aya jumped up to salute, "It's good to finally see you!"**

 ** _"Likewise! You four haven't changed much, you know that?"_** **his expression became crestfallen,** ** _"I heard about what happened to One. I will see to it personally that she is avenged."_**

 **"That's sweet of you." Leah remarked.**

 **"We're all horrified at Auto's behavior." McCrea let the screen in his hands lower, "I never knew he was like that, I should have seen it sooner. I'm sorry."**

 **"Don't apologize." Rio snapped, "It wasn't your fault. And anyway, sorry doesn't change the past, so let's forget about that for now, okay?"**

 ** _"Rio!"_** **Rose hissed.**

 **"You're right, I know that." McCrea pulled his hat down over his forehead, "We've already got a plan. You ready to hear it?"**

 **All four EVE Probes stood at attention.**

 **"Lay it on us, Captain."**

* * *

 **I blinked as the blurry room came into focus around me. The probes were talking with each other about something urgently, along with another robot and a human who I didn't recognize.**

 _ **Guys! He's awake!**_

 **I shook my head, not wanting to wake up. I was already remembering what happened before, and I didn't want to relive it. I was scared.**

 **"Thanks, M-O." Leah wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, "Is this better?"**

 **I pulled the thick fabric around myself tighter, "Y-yes, th-thank you."**

 **"I figured you'd be cold after so long in stasis." Leah took my optics in her hands, pushing them up so I was looking right at her, "How do you feel?"**

 **I frowned, answering honestly, "Tired...What happened?"**

 **"Oh, not much. I'll tell you later." Leah hummed, "Hey, you're okay..."**

 **I hadn't realized I was on the verge of tears again. I didn't actually cry though, I was too tired for that.**

 **"Wall-E?" Aya rubbed my shoulder under the blanket, "It's okay, we'll take care of you, okay?"**

 **I nodded stiffly, "Thank you."**

 **"You're okay, Wall-E..." I felt more hands on my shoulders, giving words of comfort and soft shushes. All four pairs of bright blue eyes were looking at me. I shivered.**

 **"Guys! Stop!" the taller humanoid robot pushed them away, "You're overwhelming him!"**

 **I let my head fall, "Th-thank you guys, so m-much! Thank y-you!"**

 **All their expressions relaxed.**

 **"You're welcome." Rose offered.**

 **"Okay..." The tall robot knelt down in front of me, "Hey, Wall-E. My name is V-Gr."**

 **I tried to smile for her, "N-nice to m-meet you."**

 **She rubbed the top of my head, like she was rustling hair on a human.**

 **"Okay, you guys got it?" Captain McCrea said.**

 **"Right, sorry." Aya said.**

 **"Loud and clear." Leah still hand one hand on my shoulder, "But who's going to watch Wall-E while we're gone?"**

 **I narrowed my gaze, standing up and letting the blanket fall away, "I'm coming with you."**

 **They all started.**

 ** _What!? But you're the one he tried to kill!_** **the robot M-O exclaimed worriedly.**

 **"I'm aware." I was already shivering without the blanket, but I didn't dare back down, "But rem-member; For me, it's persona-al."**

 **"But Wall-E, you'll be in danger." Leah said.**

 **"I know but I can't just wait here and wait for you all to come back. I have to do** ** _something."_**

 **"I understand." Rio took my hand, "You can come, but we're not letting you do anything too dangerous."**

 **"I'm okay with that." I grasped her hand tighter, "When do we leave?"**

 **"First thing tomorrow morning."**

 **I tried to hide my disdain, knowing how badly I sleep when I have a lot on my mind, especially now since I'd been asleep all day, "How long until morning?"**

 **"A few hours." Leah pulled the blanket up around me again, "Can you sleep?"**

 **"Um..." I fell back down onto the ground, "I think so..."**

 **"You can wake me up if you need to." Leah yawned, "Come on. We need our energy for the infiltration."**

 **I watched them go to sleep one by one. McCrea and V-GR left the room, closing the door behind them, and M-O went to sleep in the cleanest corner of the room. Leah wasn't following them, though.**

 **"Um..." I leaned back into the wall, noticing that she was looking increasingly upset, "Are you okay?"**

 **Leah twisted her hands together, "How do you do it?"**

 **"Hm?" I thumbed a loose fiber on the blanket, "Do what?"**

 **"Well..." Leah glanced out the window before looking back at me. I couldn't quite read what was in her eyes, "You're an old robot. It shouldn't be possible for you to...feel so much...it doesn't make any..." she trailed off, thinking hard.**

 **"Uh..." I glanced down at my rusty knuckles, "I don't know."**

 **"Ah, forget it." Leah moved to stand beside Rose, "You wouldn't have the answer to that. I'm...sorry."**

 **And then she went to sleep.**

 **I sighed, tucking my treads in along with my arms to try and go to sleep.**

 **It wasn't long before I heard something moving across the floor. Even though I was still drained from my episode earlier, I was too restless to sleep, so I opened my eyes in the dark. M-O was awake and staring out the window.**

 **"M-O?"**

 **He jumped.**

 **"Sorry." I slowly slid away from the wall, pulling my treads out until I was beside him, "Can't sleep?"**

 **I just caught his frown as he turned away, "Y-y-yes."**

 **His voice was quiet and quippy. It seemed he wasn't used to speaking out loud, something I couldn't fault him for. I wondered if his stutter would get any worse.**

 **I looked out the window, growing sad when none of the stars were visible because of the light off the building outside, "Me neither."**

 **The hum of our processors and the hover mechanisms of the remaining EVEs was all that could be heard in the room. No lights on the inside were turned on, so it was oddly dark in the areas away from the window. It kind of hurt my eyes.**

 **"I'm s-s-sorry..."**

 **I looked at M-O, a little startled that he had spoken so suddenly. His voice was even higher-pitched than mine, which I had been wondering was even possible.**

 **"I-I-I mean-" M-O whipped his eyes back and forth nervously, "E-E-Eve was always important to m-me, b-b-but..."**

 **"I...know what you mean..." I wasn't going to make him explain it if he could barely even speak.**

 **"Really." he turned a little towards me, swaying on his one wheel even after he'd stopped moving, "You m-must have known her...r-really well..."**

 **I winced, but I was hoping he didn't notice.** ** _I certainly didn't know her well enough to save her..._** **"Y-yeah..."**

 **The silence was too tense, but M-O didn't seem to care about that.**

 **"I have to go..." M-O slipped through to the door.**

 **"What?" I turned to follow him with my gaze, "Where are you going?"**

 **He glanced back at me, "Out." then he left.**

 **This whole thing must be getting to his nerves. I understood that, I was feeling the same.**

 **Ugh. What was even happening anymore?**


	15. Chapter 15

**_WALL-E's Perspective_**

 **I didn't sleep for even a moment, since I was so restless and anxious. Whenever I tried, I would simply hear the grinding of soft metal and jerk awake again. My chest was constricting, like it was being crushed, and I had to be careful with my raspy breathing or risk waking anyone up. By the time the sun began to brighten up the sky, my eyelids were heavy. My throat was dry. My arms were strained. The pain had subsided into a dull throb. I began to feel a headache right behind the lenses of my eyes.**

 **"Wall-E?"**

 **I flinched away from the sudden voice. I didn't even notice them approaching. I hadn't even realized I was laying on my side.**

 **Leah lifted my head up with her gentle hands, "We're leaving in thirty minutes."**

 **I groaned, blinking to clear my vision.**

 **"Didn't sleep well, huh?" she took my shoulders and pulled me upright, "I'm sorry."**

 **I huffed, trying to make sure my speaker still worked, "D-don't worry about it..."**

 **I tried to stretch my sore muscles. The joints squeaked slightly.**

 **"You don't have to come with us."**

 **I looked up into Leah's eyes. Something in me panged at seeing the sad blue orbs. EVE's sisters were so much like her, but they were still distinct. Leah's eyes didn't curve down into crescent-moon shapes, they were instead like squished rectangles. She always had some kind of little smile on her face, like she was hoping to restore some morale to her little group but still couldn't help being sad with them, too.**

 **"You look so tired and sad." Leah broke my train of thought, "You sure you wouldn't rather stay here where it's safe and quiet?"**

 **I shook my head, throwing the blanket off and standing up straight, "I'll be fine. Trust me, Leah. I have to do this."**

 **"Okay." Leah backed away a little bit, "Then stay with one of us. Don't get involved unless absolutely necessary."**

 **"Fine." I was too tired to argue with her, "But I don't want you guys getting hurt either, got it?"**

 **"Alright." Leah took me into her arms, "Let's go meet with the others."**

 **The bottom floor of the tower was full of robots. Most of the other lower floors were too, but I didn't bother paying attention to those.**

 **Captain McCrea lifted a dirty megaphone to his mouth,** ** _"Listen up, everyone!"_** **he waited for everyone to turn towards him,** ** _"This is your Captain speaking! Auto could still have access to a wireless link to all robots connected to the Axiom and the city, so I will be the only one interacting with him directly! Everyone else, follow the Eve Probes! They'll explain our plan to you!"_** **he let the megaphone fall, giving a curt nod to said EVEs before slipping away.**

 **Rio was first to step up, "Follow me!"**

* * *

 **I kept my head low as I followed close behind the EVEs, leading a larger entourage that was following close behind me. They were keeping pace well, and I assumed that the humans were in a different part of the plan since they weren't here, but as for most of the robots, they were close by.**

 **"Okay." Leah skid to a halt, swiveling around to face the crowd, "We've only got a short window. Only small robots near cameras, aside from D-Fib and Han-S. You will accompany this group. The humans will meet us near the Lido Deck and flood into the Captain's Cabin. Me and my sisters will go around the back and short-circuit any security measures that may be in place. Contact one of our links if something goes wrong and we'll try our best to resolve the issue."**

 **"This should be fairly straight-forward." Rio added, "But in case it isn't, we have a fail safe. And remember, above all else, keep yourself and your allies out of danger."**

 **Once everyone had split up into their respective groups, Leah took me in her arms, "That means you, young man."**

 **"Yeah yeah, whatever." I was only half listening to everything they said, but I did hear the last part, "I'll be fine, just don't let me out of your sight."**

 **I couldn't help the smile that spread across my eyes when I got a laugh out of her for that, "Sure thing, Wall-E."**

 **It was a fairly simple plan, really, but all things considered, there was a lot that could go wrong, especially since whatever security measures AUTO had there were tightened to their max. Luckily, the robots were really good about protecting the mostly-defenseless humans. The only real problem were the myriad of cameras on every corridor, but since AUTO's new security robots hadn't been finished yet, there was no one to stop them besides AUTO himself locked away in the control room trying to frantically come up with a plan to stop the inevitable. I was still feeling kind of numb after everything that had happened to me, and I was sure as hell in no condition to be fighting, but the least I could do was make sure AUTO never hurt another robot again.**

 **By the time EVE's sisters had crossed the Lido Deck, I was beginning to feel agitated. I was still tired, but something was buzzing in my head, keeping me alert. I didn't want to stand on the sidelines the whole time. I knew I wasn't strong, but there must be** ** _something_** **I can do.** ** _Anything._**

 **"How are you holding up, Wall-E?"**

 **I shook the thought from my head, "What? Sorry, I'm alright."**

 **"We're almost there." Leah finally set me down right outside the elevator door, "I know you probably won't like this, but I want you to wait outside."**

 **"What!?" I glared at her, feeling the buzz intensify.**

 **"I'm sorry, I just don't feel safe bringing you with us."**

 **"She's right." Aya said, "The others will catch up with you soon. Trust me. Auto will be deactivated."**

 **I didn't like the idea of being not only out of the action, but also; "Aren't you nervous about leaving me alone?"**

 **"The group is right behind us." Rose said, "Promise."**

 **I studied their sure expressions. I was restless enough that I wanted to scream until they let me go, but I was also too tired to try and argue with them. I finally let the tension roll off my body, "Fine, but come back soon."**

 **"Don't worry." Rio cocked her laser cannon, "We'll make quick work of this."**

 **"Calm down," Aya pressed her palm to the elevator door, "We hopefully won't have to kill him."**

 **"I'm still going in prepared."**

 **"Be careful!" I watched the door separate us as the mechanism carried them up, taking them out of sight. Now that I would have to wait for the rest of the group to catch up to me, I had nothing to distract myself from the thoughts in my head.**

 **I let the stubborn glare slide from my face.**

 **Maybe I was never meant to end up here. If I had simply stayed away from Eve instead of getting close to her, I would still be in my run-down building with no way to know if things could have been different. Somehow though, I doubt in any instance of what could have happened instead would I have felt this heavy. My eyelids drooped, my arms slid down my body, yet somehow I was still so restless. I wanted to sleep, but at the same time I didn't. I had to get out, but I couldn't muster the energy to even move from where I was. I felt powerless. I couldn't leave, too tired to even keep my eyes open.**

 **I jolted upwards. I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep, but I suddenly had a rotten feeling somewhere in my chest and an awful sharp pain in my eyes. I must have had a bad dream, but I didn't remember what it was. I knew I didn't want to know either. I was scared.**

 **Oddly enough, I was still alone.**

 **Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave. Something weird was happening. Why hadn't the sisters returned? Why hadn't the group caught up with us yet? The brief nap I'd unintentionally taken was messing with the focusing lens in my optics, making it hard to see anything beyond blurred lines, but staying still was proving difficult in my fear-fueled frantic state, so I tried to at least keep both my eyes open at the same time so I could have some semblance of depth-perception. The longer I stayed all alone, the longer time I had to remember and even relive things that happened in the past few days.**

 **It was then that I remembered what I had dreamt about...**

 **I tried to stay grounded in the present, but the brightly-lit hallways of the Starliner quickly gave way to darkness and garbage surrounding a broken pile of white bricks. Shattered glass glittered brilliantly in the setting sun, which I felt I desperately had to get to before it disappeared over the horizon. I had the sickening feeling that I would never see it again, but of course it disappeared and the cloudy skies gave way to buckets of rain that rang louder than the crunching glass beneath my treads. I ran until the chill of the cold water forced me to stop in my tracks as I began to shiver. It was so dark so suddenly that it took my eyes a moment to adjust, and once they did the scene was even worse.**

 **With the sun, it at least looked like something with a promise of a better future, the various reflective objects casting split rainbows across all the fake grass, but without it, the scene looked like a wasteland of a lost war, dulled colors and subdued emotion. It all felt like everyone had so much hope, but it was gone.**

 **That was the end of the dream. It wasn't even that scary, but for some reason it chilled me to the bone. It hurt in some underlying way that I could never describe.**

 **I was brought violently back to the present when a loud** ** _Bang!_** **permeated my senses and a splitting, electrifying pain sent me sprawling on my side, and suddenly the light of the Axiom disappeared to complete darkness. I forced my tired lids to blink. I couldn't even tell which way was up or down.**

 **"That took long enough."**

 **"O-ow..." I slid my arms against the surface next to me, realizing I was lying on my side. I was trying to place the voice I was hearing as a dim ring of light surrounded the circular room. It had a very different feel to the rest of the ship, filled with deep reds and purples instead of brighter neon colors. There were a few doors, but as far as I could tell, they were locked up tight.**

 **"You and your group is very persistent. But it will be their emotions that will lead to their downfall."**

 **I'd finally been able to lift my head enough to notice someone typing on a keyboard. It didn't take much longer to recognize the figure.**

 **"All is not lost."**

 **I found my voice, putting as much emotionless force into my words as possible, "Wh-what are you talking about? Let me go."**

 **I just caught a number among the oddly-placed monitor close to me; A113.**

 ** _"Auto!"_** **someone began banging on one of the doors,** ** _"You listen here, you stupid one-eyed wheel! This is your_** **captain** ** _speaking! Open this door right now before I break it down myself!"_**

 **Captain McCrea.**

 **"C-C-Captain!" I reached toward an old chair nearby, using it to push myself into a standing position, "H-help!"**

 ** _"Wall-E, is that you!?"_**

 **"Enough. I will not tolerate this anymore."**

 **I could hear a whining sound through the walls. I was beginning to slip back into unconsciousness.**

 ** _"Get this door open right now!"_**

 **I hugged the wall after getting off the chair, scooting towards Auto while he was distracted.**

 ** _"I cannot, Captain. The door mechanism within the lock appears to be broken."_**

 ** _"Then we'll break it down! Everyone! We have to get in there!"_**

 **I looked up at him, cursing internally when the blur in my vision caused my head to swim. The loud noises coming from the door caused the room to vibrate like there was an earthquake, forcing me to pause in my sleuthing to grip the wall tightly. For some reason, there was a fuzz on the wall, like it was covered in felt.**

 **Just when I was about to reach him, he turned and pushed be back. I saw a spark of blue electricity and then I was frozen.**

 **I refused to scream.**

 ** _"WALL-E!"_** **the door finally caved and McCrea stormed in with the group of robots behind him. Interestingly enough, the EVE Probes were absent.**

 ** _"H-help..."_** **I wrapped my hands around the spoke on the wheel that held the taser dangerously close to my neck. I was feeling weak after he shocked me the first time though, so all I could focus on were the lovely shades of blue it cast on my retinas.**

 **"Auto, let him go! That's an order!"**

 **AUTO finally turned away from me, allowing me to rest my arms on the ground.** ** _Don't fall asleep...don't pass out..._**

 **AUTO's stare into the Captain's rippled hazel eyes caused his stern demeanor to melt.**

 **"Did you forget...** ** _Captain?"_** **AUTO seethed the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth, "I am in control of the entire ship."**

 **I watched several arms swing from the walls as the broken door was blocked, and every robot who had made it into the room were caught up in stasis beams. They didn't bother with me, probably because I was already injured.**

 **"Yes, I know, and I know the whole thing about A-one-thirteen." McCrea tried to look brave, "But you listen here, you are** ** _not_** **allowed to harm your friends to achieve an outdated goal."**

 **"That is irrelevant." AUTO hovered closer to me, "Small sacrifices can be made for a greater good. And the goal is in no way outdated."**

 **"It** ** _is_** **, though!"**

 ** _Please don't be so loud..._** **I thought falteringly.**

 **"That was the whole reason you split that stupid city in half, right!?"**

 **I snapped my head up at that, "What?"**

 **AUTO flinched, but his eye didn't move from the captain.**

 **"Yeah, I know your whole scheme." McCrea spat in his face, "You knew that side of the city had the right conditions for plant life to grow, so you isolated both sides from each other so the EVE Probes would never find them!"**

 ** _"Shut up..."_**

 **"Let me finish, Auto." McCrea let his voice soften at his comrade's obvious distress, but he kept the stern gleam in his eye, "I understand the whole directive thing, but who gave you this directive in the first place? None of us wanted to stay in space, ya hear? We left the Earth** ** _reluctantly._** **And not only that, you** ** _killed_** **any robot who showed emotion so they wouldn't break out of your tight hold on them. I think I'm allowed to be upset about that."**

 **AUTO finally let his gaze drop to the floor.**

 **"Listen up, okay?" McCrea placed his hand over the steering wheel's face, "I don't want to hurt you, Auto. Just let us go and this can end without violence."**

 **I let my eyes travel up the shaft of AUTO's base, but instead of connecting to the ceiling, it had some kind of smooth contraption that let him hover over the ground.**

 **I barely noticed when AUTO clicked one of his spokes.**

 **"AUTO!" McCrea pushed against him as he lunged to attack, his taser poised to kill. I watched in horror as the other robots were thrown to the side, still trapped in the red stasis beams, forced to have front-row seats to their captain's execution. McCrea was clearly trying his hardest, but he still appeared to be losing.**

 **I reached my arms out, digging my fingers into the odd carpet before dragging myself towards the abandoned control panel. I fell onto my side, trying to see through the static and piercing pain that slammed into my head. I didn't give up, sliding closer and closer, reaching out once I'd gotten there and hoisting myself up. I didn't understand any of the controls, but luckily, one of the trapped robots could see what I was attempting and pointed out a button that said "Call Captain".**

 **I realized what it meant, pressing it and watching the call icon appear on the screen.**

 **"Stop that!" McCrea said through his struggle, "Ha! Am I too heavy for ya!? Huh!? UGH!"**

 **I tried to ignore the noise in the room as the call icon kept calling. Were they not there anymore?**

 ** _"-uys, s-s-seriously! I think it's Wall-E!"_**

 **I sighed in relief, "M-O..." When did he find his way into the Captain's Cabin?**

 ** _"Wall-E!?"_** **Rio joined Aya at the control panel, M-O jumping onto the keyboard so he could be seen in the camera,** ** _"Where are you!? What's going on!?"_**

 **"No!" AUTO tried to throw the captain off of him, "Stop!"**

 **"I-I don't know where I am." I held the panic back, "I can't, I'm sorry."**

 ** _"Oh no!"_** **Leah did some typing on the keyboard in front of her; In the room that used to house AUTO,** ** _"I'm so sorry! We're coming for you now, okay!?"_**

 **The call hung up and I collapsed on the floor. Okay. We'd be okay.**

 **Realizing he was losing, AUTO threw the captain against the wall, "Enough!"**

 **"Oof!" McCrea was sprawled across the floor.**

 **I tried to hold on to the ground as it began to sway, but then I realized that wasn't because of my disorientation; The ground was literally tilting! I slid down until I hit the wall, then it kept going until the Axiom was sprawled on its side. I slid a little more until my head hit the ceiling.**

 **"No!" I cried as AUTO lifted me into the air with a click of his spoke, the stasis beam rising from the wall-turned-slanted-floor. It brought me up onto his level.**

 **"Auto!** ** _No!"_** **McCrea said.**

 **All I could see at first was the arcing sparks of blue electricity. I had less than a second to marvel at its beauty before the sensation of being split in half tore through me, burning worse than any fire ever could. All the way down to my fingertips and rubber treads, every gear in my body clicking and locking down, every nerve alight, forcing me to shake violently. I threw my head back, clutching my neck, hoping that some kind of sensation could take me other than this one.**

 **This time, I did scream.**


	16. Chapter 16

Third-Person Perspective

 _He killed him. Just like that._

 _WALL-E's dead body fell to the wall in a metal heap. Up to this point, McCrea was trying to settle this peacefully. He was so sure that AUTO could be dissuaded if he just used the right words, and because of his foolish denial, two robots had been killed._

 _Heck, AUTO had just tried to kill_ him. _And who knows how many other people had been hurt or killed behind the scenes? Who knows how many people had just been hurt by the Axiom falling on its side?_

 _Wasn't he supposed to be their captain?_

 _With new resolve, he shakily got to his feet. He wasn't an athletic person by any means, but nothing was going to stop him from grappling some sense into that blasted can opener. He felt along the wall, swallowing his dizziness as he snuck up on the wheel, who was looking down on WALL-E with...what, regret? No, now was not the time to become morally nebulous. This wheel needed to be shut down._

 _McCrea huffed, "Auto?"_

 _AUTO turned to him, brandishing his taser, but this time, he was ready. He grabbed two spokes on the side, using all his strength to halt him in his place. AUTO tried to spin him away, but he held on, realizing that the struggle had opened his control panel._

 _McCrea gasped._

AUTO - MANUAL

 _With renewed determination, McCrea shifted his grip as he grit his teeth, "Auto, you are relieved of duty..."_

 _"No!"_

 _"Captain!"_

 _The minor distraction of the EVE Probes suddenly appearing through the exploded door was enough for AUTO to throw McCrea off of him._

 _"GET HIM!" McCrea's head hit the ground, but he slurred through the blunt force trauma, "H-HE'S GOT A MANUAL SWITCH UP ON THE-AAAAAAAHHH!"_

 _"CAPTAIN!" Rio shoved AUTO into the ceiling, "YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU DICK!"_

 _"Hurry! The switch!" Aya said._

 _AUTO threw Rio off, nicking her with his taser as well._

"Hey!"

 _Aya shot at the wheel, but he dodged and slammed her into a corner. Rose caught Aya before she hit the ground, and both of them rushed him, holding his spokes to the side in an effort to restrain him._

 _"Ow..." Rose felt her arms creak._

 _"Let_ go!" _AUTO spun in a circle, crushing the two and causing them to fall. Before he could be caught again, he grabbed_ all _the sisters in more stasis beams. They seemed lighter in color now, maybe because having so many of them on at the same time thinned them out._

 _AUTO's cool demeanor buckled as he shouted at the top of his voice,_ "I will not be bested by a few mind-numbing angry excuses for metal-!"

 _He suddenly stopped as he had flown too close to McCrea in his burst of unbridled rage, who had climbed back onto his feet and found the manual button._

 _Realizing he had succeeded, the captain fell onto his side, his eyes closing as his breathing picked up. With no more commands coming in through the ship, all the robots caught in stasis beams fell to the floor in a crumpled heap._

 _It was suddenly very quiet._

 _"Captain...?" Aya cautiously rolled him onto his back, flinching at the sight of the growing red stain standing out starkly on the burnt chest of his white uniform, "He needs help..." she held her head - which sported a new dent - as she commed someone who might be able to help. The now freed group of robots moved numbly, swarming around the captain to carry him away._

 _"Hospital...wing..." Rio slurred, the side of her head having been slashed with AUTO's taser, "Get him...t-tower..."_

 _The entourage wasted no time in hauling him away._

 _"Let's go." Leah was relieved that she hadn't had to fight, "We have to make sure no one else is hurt."_

 _Somehow though, none of them wanted to move. They were all staring at the forgotten box of frayed wiring and blackened boards._

 _WALL-E._

 _Leah lifted his head, looking into the now darkened, glassy eyes that held so much light just days ago. Even in the call he'd made just a moment ago, that spark was there, made obvious by his movements, however sluggish._

 _Leah gathered up all the pieces of him slowly, mechanically, until she held all of him in her arms. He shouldn't look like this. He was so still._

 _"Well, come on!" she snapped her sisters (and herself) out of the trance, leading them out through the broken door. Aya finally got a hold of Captain Burnham and explained what had happened while the rest of the group took turns carrying humans back to the hospital wing in the white tower._

 _Leah sidestepped all the attention and carried WALL-E to the repair ward. Maybe it was just her unwavering belief in everyone or just a desire to see him again, but whatever the reason, she wasn't willing to give up on the possibility that he could be brought back to life. It was the same feeling that drove her to put her sister in critical care._

 _Everything that could be saved was. EVE would definitely end up forgetting a lot, but hopefully what Leah had managed to save would be enough to justify all the work she was putting in. She slid WALL-E into an empty slot in the building beside her sister, letting the scanner swipe over him. If it couldn't identify enough salvageable parts, then he would have to be declared officially dead._

 _She waited, doing her best to be patient, as the massive machine did its thing._

* * *

...

EXTRACTING DATA FILES...

...

23%...41%...50%...79%...

100%...

BOOTING SYSTEM...

...

When I opened my eyes, the sun glared into my vision, forcing me to squint against it. I lifted my head, looking around at all the hopeful faces around me. They seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place them. I broke my arms off my body, staring at my palms with wonder. I had what looked like sleek fins for arms, with smooth pieces that broke off on the ends for fingers.

"Eve?" one of the robots nearby - who I realized looked just like me but with golden eyes - placed her hand on my shoulder, "Do you remember us?"

I reached back into my memory, "You are all familiar, but I don't remember your names."

"We're your sisters." the orange-eyed one explained, "We have nicknames too. You are Eve Number One. I am Eve Number Four, Leah."

"Leah." I repeated, "Yes, I remember that name."

"Do you remember me?" Leah took my hand hopefully.

I ran my thumb over her fingers. I saw something in my distant memory, "You had blue eyes. All of you did."

"Yes! You remember!"

I sighed, "You changed your eye color."

"Yeah. It makes us more instantly recognizable." Rio said, who had bright green eyes now, "Okay, but do you remember the name 'Wall-E'?"

That name clicked. I thought about it.

My eyes widened, "Where is he?"

Aya - the one with the yellow eyes - gestured to the white tower behind me, "He didn't want to see you if you didn't remember."

I turned around, feeling my eyes narrow.

"Be careful." Rose - hot pink eyes - warned me, "He's in a fragile state himself."

I looked back at them, my sisters, "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

They were sporting new scars that I didn't remember, darkened metal that certainly used to be dented or caved in. I had no such marks on my body, but they could have easily ordered a new one if my old body was too damaged. Finally, I made my way towards the tower. I had to see WALL-E. He had to be okay.

Once I was inside the building, I was bombarded with robots and humans, all with bright smiles on their faces or screens.

"Eve! You're okay!"

"We thought for sure-!"

"Auto is gone! Wall-E is a hero!"

"Everyone!" I laughed, waiting for the noise to die down, "Thank you, but I really need to see Wall-E. Is he here?"

The crowd lost their smiles, parting down the middle like the red sea. WALL-E was looking away from me, but he didn't move with the crowd. He simply stayed stiff and still.

"Wall-E?" I flew down to his level and lifted his head. His eyes were closed, "Wall-E, look at me."

He opened his eyes, staring into mine with wavered confidence. He was shaking, too.

"It's okay, Wall-E." I soothed, stroking the side of his head with my thumb, "I remember everything."

Well, that wasn't quite true. There were definite gaps in my memory, but I remembered him. His kindness, his vulnerability, his courage. His sad eyes widened to more hopeful ones.

"Everything?"

"About you? Yes." I let my other hand lightly rub his back, and I smiled at the shiver the touch brought him, "I'm so happy to see you again."

He let his head fall onto my chest, just below my chin, "Never do that again! You scared me to death!"

"Shhh..." I placed my cheek on his head, "Don't cry. I'm here now, and I'm not leaving again."

I heard my sisters come in after me, "Guys! They're so cute!"

 _"Aya! Shush!"_

I giggled.

WALL-E relaxed more into me, _"God, I missed that sound..."_

I pulled back to look into his misty eyes, "I'm just glad you're okay..."

"Sure, if you count traumatized and scarred as 'okay'."

"Oh, you know what I meant!"

 _"Just kiss already!"_

All heads turned to the sudden voice. Captain Burnham had his hands cupped around his mouth, "Woo!" He received a swift elbow to the gut from Captain McCrea, who had bandages around his head and chest.

It turned my attention to the others around me, who also sported various injuries, before turning back to WALL-E, "What happened while I was gone?"

He grimaced, "It doesn't matter. It's over now."

I took his head in my hands again, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Huh?" he blinked, "Oh, well...I mean, uh, right now? You sure? I was just thinking abou-!"

I shut him up by pressing our screens together and letting that spark connect us again. This time, I didn't let it stop. He was tense at first, but then he relaxed, leaning into me more.

When the kiss had broken, WALL-E buried his face beneath my head, like he was trying to hide, "I was going to say, I don't want to g-get attached again and then-!"

"Wall-E!" I couldn't help but laugh a little bit, "I'm not leaving you again! I promise."

After all, I'd kept all my promises so far.

He inhaled, "Cross your heart?"

"Yes." I said with no hesitation, "I love you, Wall-E."

He wrapped his arms around my middle and squeezed, relaxing into my embrace like a war veteran who finally found his way home.

 _"I love you too, Evah..."_

THE END


End file.
